April Lunch & Learn with Nick Chatziviltsos

As April’s Lunch & Learn fell on World Day for Health & Safety at Work we decided to invite Nick Chatziviltsos from Athos Physio to give the CERT team a session on mobility exercises and general tips on maintaining a good and healthy posture at work. 

At the beginning of the session, Nick explained to the group the importance of good posture while sitting at our desks. To maintain good posture our feet must be parallel to the floor, our monitor at eye level and a comfortable backrest on our chair. He also suggested using a standing desk for a period of the day.

Nick even went into detail explaining about our posture when using our mobile phones as it’s something so many of us use constantly throughout the day. He gave us some key facts explaining the significance of the strain it can cause your body when tilting your head to look at your phone. The team found out that you put an extra 60 lbs of strain on your spine when you look down at your smartphone! 

Then the team was given key ways to stay active in the office. Nick explained that we should avoid sitting for long periods and should get up and be active every 45 minutes, alternate between a standing and sitting desk, start or break up our day with exercise and allocate 5-10 minutes of stretching twice a day while working. Nick also gave us a very interesting fact that even fidgeting your feet while sitting can help increase your concentration, burn calories and boost your metabolism! 

Nick then demonstrated to the team, 5 top stretches to do while working, they mainly focused on the spine and posture and were easy enough to even do while sitting at the desk. 

The last thing that Nick discussed with the team was the importance of an anti-inflammatory diet and how food can help with healing inflammation in our bodies. Nick suggested that we drink plenty of water throughout the day and make small changes in our diet to include pro-inflammatory foods. These small changes included: changing seed oils to olive oil or avocado oil, drinking alcohol in moderation or drinking water in between alcoholic drinks and having sugar alternatives such as honey or fruit. 

We would like to say a big thank you to Nick for coming along and demonstrating to the team useful habits that will keep them happy and healthy in the workplace. The team left the session more knowledgeable on the importance of correct posture and the stretches that will help us to achieve it. 

The food this month was provided by Feel Good Club! The team had a selection of vegetarian and vegan dishes, consisting of vegan mac and cheese on garlic toast, smashed avocado on crumpets and mushrooms on sourdough.