Welcome! It’s a sincere pleasure to have you here!
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
I’ll be perfectly honest. I’m 52 years old. I am in relatively good health and I try to exercise regularly. But I come from a family of men with heart problems. So I decided to start this site to address some common and uncommon concerns regarding one of the two most important organs in our bodies (the brain being the other).
My father had 6 brothers and 5 sisters. Most of them passed away from some type of heart condition. Since this can be hereditary, that brought me some level of concern.
I am married with 4 kids, ages 23, 20, 19, and 13 (3 boys and 1 girl). I enjoy the time spent with my family so much that I would simply love to be around for many more years to watch them grow, get married, and have children of their own. In other words, I would LOVE to be a grandfather and experience all the wonderful happenings that come with inheriting grandchildren.
I have been doing some reading of articles online trying to learn what actions I can take in my every day living that would do some good in preventing heart problems. The first major step I took was to get a stand-up desk at work. I’d been sitting in a chair in my cubicle at various places of employment for over 25 years! According to some of the latest scientific data, this is not a good thing. The more sitting we do, the harder it is on our hearts. In fact, regardless of whether you exercise regularly or not, this is will probably take a heavy toll on you eventually.
Not only does standing up at work give me the benefit of making my heart more healthy and happy, it also does a good job strengthening my lower body. I have a thick, rubber-like mat on which I stand which helps cushion my feet. I also wear New Balance jogging shoes which are some of the most comfortable shoes I have ever owned (a Father’s Day present from my oldest son, who works there). So that is another benefit of standing up.
I don’t know about you, but around 2:00 in the afternoon, not long after lunch, I begin to get those afternoon eyes where my eyelids get heavy and it becomes a constant fight to keep them open. The office is climate controlled to a comfortable temperature. I’m looking at the same computer screen at which I’ve been looking for hours. I’m seated in a slightly slumped position in my chair. I’ve just had a nice, satisfying lunch out of the office. Then, before long, I feel my eyes closing and my head dropping. I have struggled with this professionally dangerous battle for years, sometimes winning, sometimes losing. I’ve seen other coworkers frequently fighting the same losing battle. This a very precarious position in which to find yourself should the boss happen by.
I’ve been using a stand-up desk for close to 4 years. During that time, I have never, I repeat NEVER gotten those afternoon nods. Not once since I got a stand-up desk have I ever had to fight those drowsy feelings of desperately wanting a nap. So I feel much more alert performing my daily tasks and I find I make less mistakes as well. There were times before when I’d be typing a document and halfway into it, I’d nod off a bit and awaken to find that I’d typed a few words of complete gibberish. Not any more! My stand-up desk has more than resolved that problem.
There are many various products out there you can purchase that allow you to stand up at work or at home, should that be your “office”. For me, since my company was not likely to spend any money on this “convenience”, I had the “luxury” of having a desk that could be raised to a comfortable standing height. In my case, the desktop was raised to the height of my elbows. Perfect! If this is not an option, then I would highly recommend one of the commercial products that can be purchased for anywhere between $100 and $400 dollars.
I was told by someone who used a stand-up desk before me that it would take a couple of weeks for your body to adjust. He mentioned his legs being sore at night when he went home. Fortunately, I never experienced this adjustment period. But throughout the day, I’ve found that my legs do get tired from hours of being on my feet. I do my best to take breaks from time to time and sit down to give them a break. I also use my chair when I’m on a conference call to give them an additional rest. I simply move my laptop down to the the lower section of my cubicle and I can view any meeting notes while seated.
That’s my 2 cents worth of advice for a happy healthy heart! Let me know what you think and leave me any comments you feel are relevant to this topic.
Here’s a site that may give you some other information about lowering blood pressure which could prevent heart disease also. LEARN MORE
Happy Healthy Hearts 