You may want to stand while you read this article... After the discoveries I made while doing my research, I decided to stand as I type. We have a high-top dining room table which makes a perfect stand-up desk!
Did you know that something as simple as sitting can be hazardous to your health? According to Dr David Agus, a professor of Medicine and Engineering at the University of Southern California, and the author of "The End of Illness" says, "Sitting five or six hours a day, even if you spend an hour at the gym, is the equivalent of smoking an entire pack of cigarettes." Just like smoking, sitting for hours at a time is bad for you whether you exercise or not. Think about your typical day... How many hours would you estimate that you sit? At a desk, watching TV, surfing the web, traveling, reading, relaxing, eating and other miscellaneous activities. Starting March 30th and for the following 83 days, I challenge you to take a stand for your health and sit less!
The side-effects of sitting for long periods of time is starting to be widely researched and the results are pretty scary. During these studies researchers have found alarming correlations between sitting for hours and cancer, obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, depression and premature death. By sitting for long periods of time, you are exposing yourself to metabolic consequences because it negatively impacts your blood sugar levels, triglycerides, good cholesterol and resting heart rate. It even weakens some muscle while stretching others which compromises your overall posture. While you sit, your heart is working overtime to pump blood to your extremities and key enzymes are unable to move freely throughout your body. The American Cancer Society and the "American Journal of Epidemiology" have a number of articles which reveal these alarming statistics in great detail.
The part I found most interesting about sitting was it didn't matter if you are physically active or not, sitting too much has negative health effects. In fact, a few articles mentioned that active people often sit 30% MORE than their "couch potato" counter parts. Researchers believe that active people feel they have earned the right to sit for long periods of time. This means we may reward ourselves with a "Walking Dead" Marathon on Netflix after a workout. (I know I am guilty of that!) In the article "Sitting is the New Smoking - Even for Runners they mention that Australian researcher Dr Genevieve Healy coined the word "Active Couch Potato" to describe exercisers who sit most of the day. I have also heard people refer to "Weekend Warriors" as those who sit all week but are active on the weekends. All of us, no matter how active we are, need to be careful and aware of the risks involved with prolonged sitting.
In an article titled "Sitting is the New Smoking - Even for Runners", Selene Yeager states that in a 2012 study published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity reports that the average person sits 64 hours a week... that's more than 9 hours a day. It is time to break this bad habit...
So what should we do?
Listen to audio books (or podcasts) while going for a walk or doing chores
When your favorite song comes on, don't just sit there! Have a mini dance party!
If you have a treadmill or stationary bike, use it while watching TV.
See if you get get an ergonomic stand-up desk.
Get a hoola-hoop or jump rope and practice during every commercial break.
Sit on a stability ball to give your core a workout while you sit
Talk on the phone while standing and/or pacing
Read while standing instead of sitting... you could even do squats, a few lunges or sit-kicks
If you have an office job, set an alarm to go off every hour, get up, stretch and/or walk away from your desk.
At work, find ways to work on projects while standing.
If you don't live far from work, ride a bike or walk.
Ride a bike or walk to do local errands.
Park further away so you can walk.
While on a long drive be sure to stop once an hour, think of "rest stops" as "active stops".
Bring awareness to how much you sit and make it a habit to get up. Remember to stay hydrated too! This will help you get up more because I am sure you're making more trips to the bathroom as you're flushing out toxins! Win-Win!
Did you know that something as simple as sitting can be hazardous to your health? According to Dr David Agus, a professor of Medicine and Engineering at the University of Southern California, and the author of "The End of Illness" says, "Sitting five or six hours a day, even if you spend an hour at the gym, is the equivalent of smoking an entire pack of cigarettes." Just like smoking, sitting for hours at a time is bad for you whether you exercise or not. Think about your typical day... How many hours would you estimate that you sit? At a desk, watching TV, surfing the web, traveling, reading, relaxing, eating and other miscellaneous activities. Starting March 30th and for the following 83 days, I challenge you to take a stand for your health and sit less!
The side-effects of sitting for long periods of time is starting to be widely researched and the results are pretty scary. During these studies researchers have found alarming correlations between sitting for hours and cancer, obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, depression and premature death. By sitting for long periods of time, you are exposing yourself to metabolic consequences because it negatively impacts your blood sugar levels, triglycerides, good cholesterol and resting heart rate. It even weakens some muscle while stretching others which compromises your overall posture. While you sit, your heart is working overtime to pump blood to your extremities and key enzymes are unable to move freely throughout your body. The American Cancer Society and the "American Journal of Epidemiology" have a number of articles which reveal these alarming statistics in great detail.
The part I found most interesting about sitting was it didn't matter if you are physically active or not, sitting too much has negative health effects. In fact, a few articles mentioned that active people often sit 30% MORE than their "couch potato" counter parts. Researchers believe that active people feel they have earned the right to sit for long periods of time. This means we may reward ourselves with a "Walking Dead" Marathon on Netflix after a workout. (I know I am guilty of that!) In the article "Sitting is the New Smoking - Even for Runners they mention that Australian researcher Dr Genevieve Healy coined the word "Active Couch Potato" to describe exercisers who sit most of the day. I have also heard people refer to "Weekend Warriors" as those who sit all week but are active on the weekends. All of us, no matter how active we are, need to be careful and aware of the risks involved with prolonged sitting.
In an article titled "Sitting is the New Smoking - Even for Runners", Selene Yeager states that in a 2012 study published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity reports that the average person sits 64 hours a week... that's more than 9 hours a day. It is time to break this bad habit...
So what should we do?
Listen to audio books (or podcasts) while going for a walk or doing chores
When your favorite song comes on, don't just sit there! Have a mini dance party!
If you have a treadmill or stationary bike, use it while watching TV.
See if you get get an ergonomic stand-up desk.
Get a hoola-hoop or jump rope and practice during every commercial break.
Sit on a stability ball to give your core a workout while you sit
Talk on the phone while standing and/or pacing
Read while standing instead of sitting... you could even do squats, a few lunges or sit-kicks
If you have an office job, set an alarm to go off every hour, get up, stretch and/or walk away from your desk.
At work, find ways to work on projects while standing.
If you don't live far from work, ride a bike or walk.
Ride a bike or walk to do local errands.
Park further away so you can walk.
While on a long drive be sure to stop once an hour, think of "rest stops" as "active stops".
Bring awareness to how much you sit and make it a habit to get up. Remember to stay hydrated too! This will help you get up more because I am sure you're making more trips to the bathroom as you're flushing out toxins! Win-Win!