Is Your Chair Killing You?

by Kent Burden

Sitting for extended periods of time is as bad for your health as smoking cigarettes. And exercising for 30-60 minutes a day isn’t enough to undo the damage from sitting. Shocking new research shows that sitting for long periods greatly increases your risk of developing obesity, heart disease, diabetes, stroke and cancer. Our bodies were designed to move constantly over the course of the day, but most of us sit for hours a day at work and at home! Fitness and wellness expert and award-winning author Kent Burden shows you some brief, simple movements you can do over the course of the day to combat the damaging effects of sitting. These simple movements done for 1-5 minutes each hour will burn calories, energize and refresh you, and you won’t even break a sweat. Read this book—you’ll be healthier in as little as 8 minutes a day.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Health, How To

151 pages, ebook

First published March 24, 2012

Reviews

[Johnny Roman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply amazing! This book is utterly terrifying, and will make you think twice about your daily routine. Filled to the brim with helpful advice and strategies to change the way you operate. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever described their condition on a Monday morning as "sluggish". I read it on Kindle and am going to purchase a paper copy as well so I can high light and make notes. Five Stars!

[Carina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected this book to give me a list of health issues that develop from years of sitting at a desk, that it did. What I didn't expect was a complete break down and demonstrative section of "exercises" that can be done to reduce these risk. There is also a section that schedules the exercises for you to do while taking short breaks at work.

From chapter one the book sucked me in but somewhere between all the health facts and statistics it got just a tad bit boring. I have to admit, I skimmed through the exercise demonstration section but the few that I did read where well explained and accompanied by pictures of people showing you exactly how to position yourself.

The dead tree version of this book is definitely the best for purchase. I read this on my Kindle and so going back to the exercise section daily would be tedious, where as with printed paper flipping back and forth to some marked pages would be much easier. It would also be best to have the schedule for the exercises accessed at a quick glance, preferably printed and stuck up on an office cubicle.

There are MANY typos that can be frustrating because you end up having to re-read some sentences to figure out what the author is trying to say. This may be an issue with the Kindle version only. Overall, content is good. I would definitely consider purchasing a printed copy of this book if I had a private office (public exercise at work is not for me).

[Ricardo Gordillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable book to read. Kent writes in a very friendly and modern manner. It made his book very easy and fun to read. This is important since he goes through a lot of science and studies that can get boring. But he keeps it lively with his humorous approach. I've done some research on this topic and found that he covered everything I already knew and then some. He's very thorough and up to date. By the way, the point of the book is to get us out of our seats. I have to say that with me, he succeeded in convincing me to do more than just stand at my desk. I will be more active. While standing is good, moving is better. His arguments in this book in support of his thesis are solid. I'm convinced. If you need some motivation or if you need some science and research to back up this crazy idea, Kent's book is superb.

[Nora Flores]

I'm reading this book and find it very easy to follow. As a Massage Therapist I deal with lots of this issues with some of my clients.
By getting the information I need in order to help not only myself buy my clients, I really appreciated this book.
Very simple to understand and easy to follow. In this time and day time is a Luxury some of us can't afford. The easy to follow excersices right at the work place, are effective and can truly save not only our backs, but our whole body.
I'm almost done with the book and I can't wait to help anybody that is looking for a Healthy and Pain free life.
Thank you Mr. Burden for all your research.
Nora Flores
CLMT
venturaholistic.com
5700 Ralston St. Suite #110
Ventura, California
93003

[Toccara Feliciano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved I, I got some great ideas on desk exercises that I have shared with my co-workers. When you think about what he is says and you think about how you feel you have no other choice but to believe. If you sit at a desk all day at a job this is a great book to read. The author made this book available for free on amazon. I now do desk exercises and different stretching techniques to keep my blood flowing and muscles in shape.

[grundoon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first part is reasonably well written and based on (uncited) research, and gets the message across. Unfortunately, it goes on from there to simply describe a number of basic and not particularly innovative exercises, at least 3/4 of which absolutely will be quite conspicuous in a workplace. And the not inconsiderable remainder is pointless filler, apparently for people unable to select their own handful from the preceding list, or remember how any are done.

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first section of the the book was very interesting and clearly written. Most of the exercises in the second section are far too complicated for me to do at work. I also think he overestimates the size of the average cubicle in the American workplace. However, the book did make me think of ways that I can move more at work, and if I ever get a private office, maybe I will try some of the more complicated exercises.

[David Baird · Rating 4 out of 5]

My keeper from this book is that it explained some of the leading-edge science as to why sitting for long periods is so bad for as opposed to standing, even standing still - and although increased Calorie burn is part of that equation, it's by no means the major factor.

It also hammers home the message that extended sitting is a health risk-factor that's totally disconnected from any other lifestyle choices, such as diet or exercise.

[Irma Walter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sobering. I guess you could say it in a nutshell: get off your a--. I stand in trains now. Should we get our kids off their school benches?