Long periods of sitting are actually very hard on your system and one of the reasons why so many quit doing what they love.

Also tight deadlines and other maybe less obvious constant stressors might exacerbate pernicious effects.

For that reason even junior and intermediate developers should think twice about fair/sustainable remuneration.

Ageisim diclaimer: That doesn't mean that there aren't lots of people with exceptionable health and/or consistent exercise / eating discipline of course.

What other areas do people with technical backgrounds move into that don't require so much sitting? With degrees in physics and applied math, I'm not sure where I can go and not be at a desk (or take a huge hit in $$).

Just 3 years out from school, and I can definitely notice the difference in my physical health and mental agility. I have taken up gardening to get me outside and eat decently well. I can still feel the effects, scary.

I think it's pretty hard without a radical shift in career. Your training correlates well with sitting/standing & thinking, then writing/typing things.

What worked well for me though was to be quite intentional about a few things:

* started at minimum walking to work - I know this doesn't work for everyone, but some variation (e.g. part way) might. This meant that regardless of how crazy my day got at the very least I had 1 hour of brisk walking - I moved to a 30 min walk from my office.

* got out of the office for a walk of at least 15 min at lunch, pretty much every day

* sit/stand desk and used it, changing position 4x a day usually (i.e. sit for a while, stand for a while, lunch, sit, stand)

* got intentional about some meeting scheduling. e.g. this is going to be a whiteboarding exercise, put it at 10am to break up the morning sitting.

* have a proper fitness routine, and stick to it. Could be activities you like or could be the gym or whatever, but don't let yourself "get busy" and miss too many days. It should be somewhat intense, and somehow cover core & hips & shoulders

Thanks. This is sound advice from what I see. No big spending + No career change but suddenly increases physical activity to a new level. I have piles and going to try this. I'm also 30 minutes from work but I can't walk in the morning so I'll walk back. Also going to purchase myself a sit/stand desk once I get the job change.

You have to go to the gym every day. At least 5 days a week. Heavy workout where you train intensively your upper and lower body. I do this now for about 10 years and the difference is like day and night. Both mentally and physically. The "don't have time" argument is in my opinion not valid. By exercising you gain so much more time just because you work more efficiently.

I agree with you, but I don't think this is great advice. If you tell people that aren't already physically fit that they have to do high intensity training five days per week to be healthy, they'll think it's too difficult and they won't be able/have time to do it. The best advice you can give is to start with a light 20 minutes of cardio three times per week. After getting into a routine of regular exercise they may progress to more challenging workouts.

Exercise a lot, especially focusing on cardio and strength+flexibility in your hips. Doing this massively mitigates the adverse effects from my job for me; if I stop my routine for a week or two the soreness, tightness and discomfort come roaring back.

Mind you, I'm not a health professional, but here are some ideas. Take a walk at lunch. Try hobbies that aren't simply sitting. Even something like woodworking or gardening would have one standing and moving; it's not aerobic exercise, but it's still better than sitting. If you do do woodworking, you could build a little stand for your laptop or keyboard to convert your desk into a standing desk :)

You could keep doing the work you're doing, but without the sitting: get a stand up desk (if money is an issue, you can get a cheap hand-cranked desk from Ikea) and get an under desk treadmill (harder to avoid spending at least $1k, sadly). I get in about 5 hours of walking per day this way, at 4 mph (I'm 6'2", so that's right around my typical walking speed). I feel infinitely better this way, and it's also an incredible way to burn off calories with minimal intensity.

There's no white collar job that I know of that doesn't require a lot of sitting. Even if it isn't programming, office jobs require you to sit a lot since almost everything is done by computer. The key is to take regular breaks and walk around. Exercise regularly and eat a Mediterranean diet.

If you look at some statistics (can't find it now) I seem to recall sales and marketing have lower prevalence of obesity. Meanwhile construction workers have higher. I think what matters more is less stress in a job, eating healthy and doing physical activity regularly.

Alternative explanation: overweight people don't get hired for sales and marketing jobs.

So why do construction workers who are more active still have obesity?

You'd need a wider sample of sedentary office workers than just sales and marketing to make that conclusion.

Okay I finally found the article. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/the-jobs-...

I'd say the physically active jobs are actually on the middle to upper half of the list. Transportation, warehousing, manufacturing and construction for example.

If you can work from home (big if) then you might consider looking into a standing desk + treadmill.

There are some decent options available. The "Autonomous" desk is great, I purchased JUST the legs and use an IKEA top to save money.

Now, I'm looking at the "Treadly" treadmill. Technically, this isn't an "under desk" treadmill, but it's the thinnest treadmill on the market and can be operated without the bars upright. So it's perfect for going under your desk, and then under a bed or a couch when you're not using it.

Uplift[0] also sells treadmills and exercise bikes specifically for standing desks. I purchased one of their desks a few months ago, and while it's a bit spendy, the quality is fantastic. I expect to be using it 15 years from now.

[0] https://www.upliftdesk.com/desk-accessories/movement-exercis...

I'm curious which IKEA top you used. I also looked at the Autonomous frame, but I don't think it'll work with my existing Karlby top (25 5/8" x 74").

You don't need to work from home to get a standing desk.

Just recently I got a desk which can be lifted and lowered. About one hour a day, I would lift the desk up, and have a standing desk. I also move around, especially when I have phone conferences. I even pace around the room. Although it is a small, I am able to detect a small change in my health and energy.

Thank you all for the ideas! I'm blessed to work at home and think I'll definitely look into either building (trying to improve my wood working skills) or buying a standing desk. Maybe a gym membership should be in my future too or bulking more gardens haha.

That’s why I have a standing only desk, didn’t want to give myself the allure of putting it in sitting mode and never putting it back up.

If I sit, it will be somewhere public, so if I focus I have to stand. (Took like 1.5 years to get used to in terms of strength issues etc.)

It can kill too [1].

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY-k_YVkRKs

Thank you for sharing and I'm sorry for you. A professor who inspired me toward applied math and computational sciences passed away a few weeks ago from a heart attack. He was 47 and had several young children. Health is no joke.

I am very sorry to hear that. My thoughts are with you and of his young children.

Made an account simply to share that your post had an immediate impact on me. I was originally planning on canceling a physical therapy consultation I had scheduled to address the problems I inevitably have due to my software engineering job, figuring "It's not urgent, I should do more work instead, it can wait," but after reading your post, I decided to prioritize health and keep the consultation.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

I am very happy to hear you made that decision. I hope your problems are not long term and that by dealing with them now you are able to make a full recovery.

I wasn't sure about posting my comment if I am honest. I even closed the tab. I am glad I decided to do it now though as it has started an interesting discussion and, more importantly to me, it got you to keep your appointment of which I am very happy to hear :)

Take care of yourself maccha, nobody else will or can and you only get the one body.

thanks for sharing this. sorry for your loss.

Thank you. It was a total shock. Even more so as it was my wedding day so I found out in the evening :(

He had been trying to get healthier for the previous two years after being diagnosed with diabetes and high blood pressure but the damage was already done. The thing is though he wasn’t huge. Yes he was larger than he should be but you didn’t look at him and think heart disease or diabetes. He thought he could make up for the years of unhealthy lifestyle by exercising and eating well once he had a problem but it doesn’t work that way.

I am in my mid-thirties and it was a slap to the face that I needed to sort myself out now before I end up the same way.

My friend passed away at 30 due to high blood pressure complications.

Sort yourself out asap. The best time for exercise is like planting a tree - 10 years ago. The 2nd best time is now.

That is awful. I am very sorry to hear that.

Was there an underlying/undiagnosed issue or simply poor lifestyle?

similar thing here -- I am in my mid 30s and I have just quit eating chocolates, junk food, sugary stuff, sodas, etc just 2-3 weeks back. It was painful, I still get headaches but I know its worth it. Next phase is exercising more frequently.

Everybody has a time they will go but how you go can be controlled to a degree and that is what I am striving for.

I am just glad that I am only few kilos (less than 10) overweight so can see light at the end of tunnel.