Fantastic Five Percent
“My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She's ninety-seven now, and we don't know where the hell she is”.
Ellen DeGeneres
There is a new trend I have been noticing recently and I like it. I like it A LOT!
It is called the “Active Workstations” and it is assisting all of us achieve what I call the ‘Fantastic 5 Percent’.
FFP (Fantastic Five Percent) works this way. I give you 8 hours to work and 8 hours to sleep, this leaves us with 8 hours to use however we want. 5% of those 8 hours equates to 24 minutes. All I am suggesting is taking one minute each working hour (8 minutes) and standing up for one minute while at work. Doing this gives us a jump start on our FFP for the day. Now we only have 16 minutes left, you decide whatever movement you want to do. Active workstations are awesome because you get your FFP in plus some. However, for those of us who don’t have the “active workstation” luxury don’t fret because those last sixteen minutes are a piece of cake, it is just having the target in mind to achieve our goal.
The entire modern world is constructed to keep us sitting down. When we drive, we sit. When we work at an office, we sit, and when we watch TV. The time has come to use your FFP goal to eliminate just SOME of the sitting. Yes, standing counts, watching TV standing up counts, walking upstairs counts, it all adds up! Remember just 16 more minutes!
Prolonged sitting, meaning sitting for eight to 12 hours or more a day, increased your risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 90%.
Say what!
The FFP gives us a target, it is simple, those that are blessed with “active workstations” halleluiah, those of us who are not so lucky, fear not because simplicity is in our corner.
Some other FFP suggestions-
- No elevators
- Believe in walking.
- Sit unsupported.
- Chair back squats
- Park farther out in the lot
- Start an FFP club at work.
