Sitting is the new smoking
So you go to the gym, you workout a few times a week. That means you’re healthy, right?
Well, it turns out, that studies are showing that the effects of prolonged sitting are not reversible through exercise or other good habits.
We’re made to move but many of us spend most of our days sitting – at work, in the car or on the bus and on the couch (like, as I write this). We average just under 10 hours of sitting a day, compared to around 8 hours of sleeping.
Here’s a couple of stats:
- Obese people sit 2.5 hours more a day than thin people
- After 1 hour of sitting, the production of enzymes that burn fat drops by as much as 90%
- Extended sitting slows metabolism and affects HDL and is linked to greater risk of heart disease, cancer and Type 2 diabetes
Too much sitting as I’m sure you know affects your posture and puts strain and compression on certain muscles and body parts like your back. It affects how you breathe, compressing your lungs and limiting the amount of oxygen you take in. This in turn limits your brain’s oxygen uptake and affects functioning, focus and efficiency.
So we need to stay more active during the day and avoid sitting for too long:
- Get up from your desk every 30min or so and walk around
- Walk to see people in the office you need to communicate with
- Take the stairs
- Park your car further away from the office or get off the bus earlier so you can work a little further
