Bea Broda: Health and fitness experts are always telling us to be kinder to our bodies. That includes our behinds. Canadians admit to spending far too long sitting everyday. In fact we spend an average of 7.5 hours per day sitting, sometimes up worth of 10 hours. I am here today to find out more about this subject from therapist Margaret Wallis - Duffy.
Margaret Wallis - Duffy: Hey! How are you?
Bea Broda: Not too bad.
Margaret Wallis - Duffy: Good.
Bea Broda: So what are the implications of sitting far too long or too much? Well, like I have right now.
Margaret Wallis - Duffy: Well, you know Canadians do sit for a good portion of their day and it has a huge impact on their body, especially their behinds and we know that we should stay as active as possible throughout our day, doing regular stretches to try to help prevent a lot of things like sciatica that can contribute to pain in our behinds. You know Cottonelle did a survey recently that talked about asking Canadians, are you kind to your behind? And in fact they said no, they are not kind to their behinds. They take care of their face or their back before they do the behinds and this is a problem, because as I was mentioning, it can lead to injuries like sciatica which can cause us pain. So there is things we can do. There are so many things you can do, you are going to want to strengthen and shape and tone through various activities, whether it's sports, yoga, stretching and toning exercises to help make us even look better and feel good too.
Bea Broda: First of all is to keep ourself some getting flabby back.
Margaret Wallis - Duffy: Oh, absolutely and I brought along with me a friend today Jennifer Lusby, physiotherapist to talk about exactly that strengthening and stretching on buttocks, so that we are going to look better and feel better. So first of all, a strengthening exercise, you are going to put your heels together and then very slowly with your legs at 90 degrees you are going to pleat down just like a ballerina and as you slowly come up, you are going to squeeze your cheeks together to get a really nice tight behind.
Bea Broda: Feels great?
Margaret Wallis - Duffy: It does, and then stretching, really important. This can be done at your computer desk, or at work, you are going to put one ankle over your knee with your back straight, take a nice deep breath in and as you exhale, you are going to lean forward. Jenny is going to feel that stretch right through her behind right here and she will look and feel much better for it.
Bea Broda: So don't sit when you can stand. Do exercises of all kinds. These are just some of the things you can do to take care of yourself. Take a look at what one company did on a recent visit to Toronto. The Comfort Haven is a Cottonelle puppy-themed bus with comfort areas offering access to massage, yoga and plush places to sit and relax. Visit www.cottonelle.ca and enter for the chance to win an all expenses paid trip for two to a luxury spa retreat in California with celebrity funny girl Judy Greer or one of 13 weekly rewards of $250 to help fulfill their pledge to be kinder.
Transcription by:
Scribe4you Transcription Services