In consumer research carried out by the British Chiropractic Association, 41% of people said that sitting for long periods contributed to their back or neck pain and, with at least 75 hours of football on offer, some will be more at risk than ever of becoming couch potatoes!

Katherine Jassar, a chiropractor with the BCA is concerned about the effect all this extra sitting down could have: “Our lifestyles are sedentary enough but, during televised sporting events like the Euros, people spend even more time sitting down. Lack of exercise is our worst enemy and we should avoid sitting for prolonged periods of time, as sitting incorrectly puts almost twice as much pressure on the back than when standing.”

And that’s not the only health hazard during this tournament. Football fans will argue that jumping up to celebrate a goal or berate the referee is an involuntary action, but doing it too quickly may be more harmful than sitting down for prolonged periods. Katherine explains: “Going from a fixed posture when sitting down to quickly jumping up on your feet in excitement could be potentially damaging.”

Follow this simple advice from the BCA to have a pain free Euro 16:
• Try to ensure that you change position every twenty minutes; stand up and move around.
• Make sure you are active during half time; there is plenty of light exercise you can do during the 15 minute break.

• Drink Up! – As much as possible, try drinking water instead of beer, tea and coffee; it will keep you hydrated and help you concentrate on the game.
• At the end of the match, you might feel inspired to have a kick around which is the perfect way to keep active over the long summer evenings.