Recent research has linked sitting for long periods of time with a number of health concerns, including obesity and “metabolic syndrome” — which is a combination of several conditions that includes high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, and excess body fat around the waist. Too much sitting is also linked to an increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer.
One study compared adults who spent less than two hours a day in front of the TV or other screen-based entertainment with those who logged more than four hours a day of recreational screen time. Those with greater screen time had: A nearly 50 % increased risk of death from any cause, and about a 125% increased risk of events associated with cardiovascular disease, such as chest pain or heart attack.
Sitting in front of the TV isn’t the only concern. Any extended sitting, such as behind a desk at work or driving your car can be detrimental. These detrimental effects are not easily offset by spending a few hours a week at the gym or otherwise engaged in moderate or vigorous activity a few times per week.
The solution seems to be less sitting and more moving overall. You might start by simply standing rather than sitting whenever you have the chance, and remember to take frequent breaks from your sitting position. Do yourself a favor and get up and walk around every 20-30 minutes.
The impact of movement, even leisurely movement, can be profound. For starters, you’ll burn more calories. This might lead to weight loss111 and increased energy. Even better, the muscle activity needed for standing and other movements seems to trigger important processes related to the breakdown of sugars and fats within the body. When you sit for long periods of time, these processes stall and your health risks increase. When you’re standing or actively moving these processes are kicked back into action.
Decreased Brain Function:
When we are active our body pumps blood and oxygen to the brain which releases several brain and mood enhancing chemicals. When we are sedentary for prolonged periods everything slows down including brain function.
Strained Neck:
If most of your sitting is at your desk, craning your head forward toward your keyboard or worse yet craning your head down to text, you are putting excess strain on the muscles, ligaments and tendons in your neck. This will aggravate your cervical vertebrae and can cause pain and vertebral misalignments.
Sore Upper Back and Shoulders;
Forward head posture also affects the upper back and shoulder muscles as well, which can also lead to pain and muscle imbalances.
Inflexible Back:
Repeated bouts of prolonged sitting can lead to an inflexible spine, which in turn can leave you susceptible to spinal injury when doing ordinary things like tying your shoes. Regular movement keeps our spines healthy as the movement of the vertebrae allows the soft discs between them to expand and contract like sponges which in turn pumps blood and nutrients into the discs to keep them healthy. Prolonged sitting leads to collagen hardening and lack of sponginess in the discs, and research shows that people who frequently sit for long periods are at a much greater risk for herniated discs.
Weak Abdominals:
Slumping in your chair not only strains your back, but it also leads to weak abdominals. When we stand or move our abdominal muscles are engaged, but they are essentially dormant when we slump forward in a chair. In order to stand or to sit up straight you need to counteract gravity and engage your abdominal muscles.
Tight Hips:
Prolonged sitting can directly affect the mobility of your hips. The sitting position puts your deep hip flexors (Psoas) in a shortened state, and these deep hip flexors actually attach to your lumbar spine. Tight hip flexors can cause low back pain and very tight hips, and tight hip flexors will significantly shorten your stride length.
Poor Circulation:
Prolonged sitting can also decrease your circulation and cause blood to pool in your legs. This can lead to varicose veins, swollen ankles and make you more susceptible to dangerous blood clots called deep vein thrombosis.
Soft Bones:
To maintain good bone density we need to do daily weight bearing activity, and prolonged sitting and/or lack of activity is directly related to an increased incidence of early osteoporosis.
So what can you do?
KEEP MOVING!
If you do need to sit for your work, try sitting on a stability ball or a backless chair that requires you to engage your core muscles. If you do prolonged driving or you are “stuck at your desk” for prolonged periods of time, make sure to take regular breaks to get up to stretch and walk around on a regular basis. Ask your employer to install an adjustable work station so you can alternate between standing and sitting. Let them know that this will improve your productivity.
Stretch on a regular basis.
Physiologists have determined that we lose our strength and flexibility much faster than our endurance, and flexibility is the easiest to maintain as we age, it just takes a little time and effort to stretch daily.
Posture
When sitting, remember to maintain good posture: Your ear, shoulder, elbow and hip should all be aligned. When you stand make sure to maintain good standing posture as well.
If you have questions on how you can improve your posture please feel free to contact me at: [email protected]
Or better yet- attend my next Postural Restoration Workshop to be held from 6:30- 7:30 pm on Tuesday October 27, 2015.