Sitting is the new smoking, an easy solution.

Surely most of anyone who works in an office based environment had heard that sitting is the new smoking.
It's not hard to see the trends in the western world becoming more and more disastrous in health, with many of the diseases running rampant being blamed on our sedentary culture as major contributing factor.
Think about this - wake up, sit to eat breakfast and read the news, sit to drive to work or on the bus, sit at work, sit at lunch, sit on the way home, sit at dinner, lie down to sleep.
NOT MUCH MOVEMENT!

I'd like to offer a easy to implement strategy for office based workers, of any age, gender, or body shape, to ensure you keep the blood flowing and muscles working.

A quick overview of the impacts of sitting may be of value here:
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/31/2/369.short
http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/1108810

The biggest takeaway (I can happily find many more supporting studies) from these two is the results "Prolonged sitting is a risk factor for all-cause mortality, independent of physical activity."
What this means is sitting is relevant EVEN if you already exercise. 1 hour of exercise or walking isn't going to reverse the damage of 8 hours + sitting.

So whats the solution?

The most widely touted solution is to simply stand up for 5 minutes of every 30 minute period.
This isnt really possible for the majority. So I have come up with a few ideas.

1 - practice some joint mobility exercises found here :

these are easy to implement even when sitting something as simple as extending the legs and moving the arms can get the blood flowing around then body, which is the main goal here.

2 - Repeated sit - stand - sit. I know it may look stupid, but its basically repeatedly squatting and will help your blood flow around the biggest limbs of the body, the legs.

3 - A little unorthodox, but drink more water. Why? It will make you have to go to the toilet! Which, I do assume, requires a brief walk.

That's three very easy steps to incorporate into your office routine. Even something like getting up and walking to refill your coffee regularly is beneficial, and can potentially stop major health issues caused by extended periods of sitting.

NOTE: This probably sounds overly simple given the disastrous health impacts, but it is the reality of how ridiculous the sedentary society of today has become. It's something that easily solved and therefore does not require a 'hack' or advanced theory to overcome. Simply stand up!