The report, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, highlights the relationship between prolonged sitting and early deathrate hazard factors such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, concluding that “ Prolonged sedentary fourth dimension was independently associated with deleterious health outcomes regardless of physical activity. ” In other words, even if you ’ rhenium clock in an hour of intense bodily process a day, if you ’ re still sitting for the rest of it, particularly without breaks, your center health — and biography — remain at risk. thus while we often feel we can, quite literally, outrun and out-train bad habits or an insalubrious life style, research is proving otherwise .
Sitting Ourselves to Death
Simply put, we are sitting ourselves to death. The american Heart Association estimates Americans spend six to eight hours sedentary per day, and writer Marc Hamilton, Ph.D, who studies sedentarism, argues this figure is closer to nine hours. Beyond impeding our fat and carbohydrate metabolism, both of which shock diabetes and heart disease gamble ( and therefore early mortality ), sitting slows thermal burn by 30 % compared to standing, making it a major perpetrator in the slant personnel casualty clamber .
It besides impacts heart health by disrupting vascular serve. Our bodies control blood pressure by dilating and constricting blood vessels, maintaining an crucial counterweight between these two states, but prolonged sitting disrupts this harmony. A study published in Experimental Physiology examined the effects of sitting for two three-hour periods on young girls, one period uninterrupted and the other broken up hourly by 10 minutes of mince exercise, assessing the health of the main artery in the leg before and after each session. Researchers saw a 33 % reduction in arterial dilation, or expansion, after the uninterrupted period, but arterial health remained static during the period with exercise breaks.
Reading: How Sitting Impacts Heart Health
checkup literature has already established the link between elongated sit, arm artery health, and cardiovascular disease risk in adults, but it seems tied children are not immune to this epidemic of the modern age .
true, sitting can be difficult to escape. Most jobs normally require us to sit in front man of computers throughout the day, and again in traffic getting to them, and we typically unwind after a long day by — you guessed it — more sitting. fortunately, the dangers of sedentarism can be avoided without a complete life style and career renovation. With just a little mindful attempt and planning, you can keep your body and beware healthy tied while working at a calculator. The follow are precisely a few ways to incorporate more active breaks into your day .
Strategies for Mitigating the Risks of Prolonged Sitting
1. Set Walking Reminders or Download an Activity App
It takes time to build a raw habit, and this includes remembering to get up and move around every hour. Take some of the blackmail off by setting reminders on your call or, better yet, downloading an app that offers exercise suggestions for your breaks.
Read more: Book Summary: Mind Really Own Business
2. talk and walk
With most people abandoning their landlines these days, there ’ s no argue to stay tethered to a moderate while talking on the telephone. Stand up or walk around rather — research shows you ’ ll undertaking more department of energy and exuberance than you would while sitting, which might barely translate into more effective business calls and improved relationships .
3. Drink More body of water
digression from the obvious health benefits of staying sufficiently hydrated, electing to drink more water will mean more trips to the water cool — and bathroom — throughout the day .
4. Get in Some Face Time
Avoid the office worker trap of emailing your colleagues for every request — particularly your nearest neighbors. If you need to speak to a coworker, get up and speak with them, face-to-face !
5. Use several Workstations
If schedule regular breaks seems like besides much of a harass, try alternating between sitting and standing desks. And this option doesn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate indigence to break the bank ; a simple laptop stand ( or even a push-down list of books ) can transform your current desk from sitting to standing .
6. Take stretch Breaks
Any motion that can stretch out the hips and strengthen your glutes and core — both of which weaken with sit, which in turn leads to low back pain — will counteract some of damage from sitting. Clam shells, gluteus bridges, dame dogs, and peg swings are all good examples of no-equipment exercises you can do at the agency .
frequency Is the Key
It all comes down to frequency. The longer we sit for any given clock, the more damage we do to our muscles and blood vessels, the less concentrate we become, and the longer it takes for our meals to digest. Rather than packing in all your natural process before or after work, make motion a regular separate of your sidereal day .