Most of us like to relax on an evening by settling down in front of a box-set TV series. But whether it’s a classic like Breaking Bad, or an upcoming hit like The Little Drummer Girl, it seems that even this relaxing pastime can be accompanied by plenty of surprising health risks.
We all know how we’re meant to get a daily dose of rigorous exercise to ensure that our bodies stay in shape. But if we are neck deep in a 12-episode series of a tense zombie-thriller like The Walking Dead, we’re going to need a few reminders to get up every now and then.
Perhaps this was the thinking behind the Stand app that gives you a welcome reminder to stand up every now and then – don’t worry you can still watch your box-set favourite without necessarily being sat down!
But even some of the shorter TV watching sessions can be surprisingly dangerous. Who can forget the moderately amusing story about the footballer, Rio Ferdinand, who somehow managed to give himself a nasty knee injury whilst resting his leg on a coffee table whilst watching TV for four hours.
So perhaps we need to pay a little more attention to the position that we are sitting in when we next settle down for a good binge-watching session.
Rather than being slouched on our sofas, we’ll need to maintain a more upright position that doesn’t place undue strain on our back, shoulders or hips.
This is why it’s always a good idea to ensure that you get plenty more support than you’re likely to get from the overly squishy sofa.
Even if we are in the habit of watching box-set hits in bed, we should try and get a supportive mattress from a brand like Bedstar to stop us from slipping into those potentially harmful positions.
Whilst there is a tendency to spend more time watching TV on our laptops and tablet, we can place undue stress on our necks by looking down all of the time. So try and watch your favourite TV shows by keeping the screen in line with your eyes at a comfortable horizontal position.
And whether you are watching a boxset hit like The Crown, or are just watching adverts for mattress deals, it seems that some health gurus even advocate sitting on the floor for the ultimate in healthy viewing!