Urgent Message brought to you by one WoW player to another! There's a "TL;DR" at the bottom, so if this looks too lengthily to you - by all means - scroll on down to get the quick overall message I'd like to convey to you.
My Message To You
Whether you're a hard-core raider, an intense pvp'er, a casual gamer, or a role player extraordinaire - you're *more than likely* sitting in a chair.
Now, sitting in a chair can be a great way to "take a load off" or grab a worthy moment of rest. But once you start sitting there for lengthy time periods such as that 1-3 hour PvE raid, those 15-30 minute PvP battles, farming hours for achievements etc. - you become what is called sedentary. Becoming sedentary, quite literally, kills you.
Think about the average office worker’s day: They commute to work, sitting. They spend four hours at their desks in the morning, sitting. They have an hour lunch break, sitting. They wrap up their workday with four more hours at their desks, sitting. They commute home, sitting. They eat dinner, sitting. They watch a few hours of TV, sitting. That’s a whole lot of sedentary time! Does it sound uncomfortably similar to your own workday?
Furthermore..
On top of that, now you're playing WoW, sitting.
Phantom back pain is the #1 Health Problem in the workplace, and it directly carries over into your lifestyle if you're playing WoW for extended periods of time!
I don't want to bore you with statistics, non-correlational findings, or slide-shows drilling you with why you shouldn't be sitting. What I want to do is challenge, no, IMPLORE you to break up long periods of sedentary sitting to improve your quality of life and overall muscle, tendon, and skeletal health.
There's a reason sitting "Indian style or as the Asians Do it" has been around for thousands of years. These people figured out that sitting in a 90 degree angle chair doesn't give you "better back support", it RUINS your back and causes a myriad of problems that become a trickle-down effect.
Doing Something About It
You may ask, "Well okay..but how can I change my routine to limit my sedentary sitting habits?" Here is a list of things for you to try, and I guarantee you will feel better about yourself, feel healthier, and have a better outlook on life.
-Instead of a chair, use a Core Medicine Ball as commonly seen in gyms. It activates your core, stabilizes your spine, gives you a WORKOUT while sitting and it's fun..you can bounce around!
-While you're in that Dungeon, Battle-ground, or Looking-For-Raid que - Get up and do some push ups, pull-ups, jumping-jacks, or jog in place!
-Instead of taking a prescription from a doctor for your "Phantom Back Pain", visit a Chiropractor. They will do wonders for your skeletal system. Don't believe me? Research it yourself!
__________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________
TL;DR
Sitting RUINS your back, degenerates your muscle structure surrounding your back and organs, causes a myriad of health problems, and is completely unnecessary. Exercise, breaking sitting routines with intermittent jumping jacks, push-ups, pull-ups etc. can and will increase your mental/physical health greatly. WoW is a hell of a game, and loads of fun; have that fun carry over into your mental/physical health by doing these simple things each day in your routine.
From one WoW player to another, may Elune shine on you, Lok-Tar Ogar, and stop SITTING!