Are you in a bad situation?
Many Americans sit for eight to 10 hours a day—to the detriment of their backs, hips, waistlines, and hearts. Sitting for long periods can lead to obesity, muscle wasting, spinal stress, poor blood sugar regulation, and decreased blood circulation throughout the body.
“Sitting actually ages you faster,” Katy Bowman, a biomechanist and author of “My Perfect Movement Plan,” told the New York Times on Thursday.
The American Heart Association warns that too much sitting time increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes and early death.
And a UC San Diego study published in February found that older women who sat for more than 11 hours a day had a 57% higher risk of premature death than those who sat for less than nine and a half hours per day.
The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans say adults should aim for 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity and two days of muscle strengthening per week.
But as University of Houston muscle physiology professor Marc Hamilton noted last year, “30 minutes of exercise a day can’t immunize you from what you do the other 23 and a half hours.”
“Our bodies are built to move all day long,” Hamilton continued. “They weren’t designed to be idle and immobile with a metabolic rate similar to a person in a coma.”
Experts shared with the Times four ways to break out of your sedentary slump — even if you need to work from a computer all day.
Be more active
Dr. Geoffrey Whitfield, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Times that people who sit a lot should exercise more, perhaps as much as an hour a day.
Walking can do wonders for the body. Low-impact exercise burns calories, reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke, lowers blood pressure and cholesterol, strengthens heart and leg muscles, improves bone density, boosts mood, relieves stress, and improves sleep.
If you’re looking for a bigger challenge, try walking on elevated ground or uphill, moving to the beat of an up-tempo song, including short bursts of brisk walking or jogging, or wearing a vest weighed.
Find time to move
Set a timer to make sure you get moving in the office, even if it’s doing something small like walking in place.
Park as far away as you can, get water from the farthest fountain, or take the stairs instead of the elevator to sneak up more steps.
Or you may want to invest in a treadmill.
Consider a standing desk
A standing desk may allow more movement and burn more energy, but buyer beware.
New research in Australia found that standing does not improve cardiovascular health compared to sitting, and may actually increase the risk of vein problems and blood clots.
retreat
Even while sitting, you can touch your toes, bend your legs, roll your ankles, extend your legs, or do some upper body stretches.
“Read your email with your arms outstretched or by rolling your shoulders to the right and left,” advised Bowman.
Other experts who spoke to the Times recommended changing your body position every 15 to 30 minutes, adjusting the position of your legs, pelvis and spine, and alternating between 30 minutes of standing and 30 minutes of sitting.
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