While there may be some benefits to sit/stand stations  (stay tuned for a future blog post on that topic), the key issue with prolonged sitting is the static positioning.  Preventing discomfort is all about injecting movement into our day, and even at a seated workstation there are lots of ways to do that.  

Check out the following ideas:

• Start the day right with some exercise to get the blood flowing, lubricate joints and warm up muscles that will be required to perform constant activity throughout the day. While people don’t tend the think that office work is very demanding, there is significant endurance required from our postural muscles to sit through most of the day and high levels of repetition from the small muscles in the hands, arms and wrists to allow us to do all the typing and mousing that typically makes up computer work.
• If getting up early to work out isn’t your thing, try those old stand-bys of parking a little further away to get a bit of a walk in before arriving at the office or getting off the elevator a couple of floors below your office and walking the last few flights. Even standing at your desk and performing some shoulder shrugs and a few hip hinges before sitting down can have a positive impact.
• As the day progresses we drain our reserve capacities and need to top things up with regular microbreaks for a stretch and change of position. Ideally we want to get up from our desk and stretch every hour.  The types of stretches that you do aren’t as important as the regular interruption of the seated position. 

I’m pre-thinking your responses to the point above…here are your answers:

• Yes, we are all busy.  Yes, I know you think you don’t have time to stretch but studies on various workplace stretching programs consistently show, not only a reduction in discomfort and increased well being with stretching, but there is also an increase in productivity!  There you go – stretching regularly during the day will help you get your work done sooner.  It’s a win-win!!
  
  Don’t believe me?  Then check this out.
  
  
• Yes, I know you have good intentions to stretch but you forget and suddenly 4 hours have gone by and you haven’t moved. If that’s the case then maybe you should try some stretch break reminder software.  There are some pretty decent free ones on the market like: http://www.workrave.org
  
  Some of you might have a company firewall that prevents you from loading external software. If that’s the case then put a reminder in your calendar that’s set to repeat every hour forever that says “stretch”.  Yes, it will get annoying, but it will also remind you!

• I know it can be embarrassing to stand up in a cube farm and stretch in front of your colleagues, so why not enlist a few of them to join you? You’re much more likely to carry on with the habit if you have a stretch buddy!  If you can’t bring yourself to demonstrate your commitment to healthy working in front of your colleagues, you can certainly find some seated stretches that you can do below the partitions around your cube; and while it’s not as good as standing it’s better than nothing!