While it may be very comforting to sit on a chair for hours, you should know that such sedentary lifestyle might be harmful to your health. Your chances of leading a healthy life are better the less time you spend sitting or lying down each day. Sedentary lifestyle is associated with an increased risk of being overweight, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, depression, and more diseases.
Here’s how a sedentary lifestyle affects your health-
It hurts your heart
Heart disease has been connected to prolonged sitting. According to one study, men who watch more than 23 hours of television per week are 64% more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than men who watch only 11 hours per week.
According to some specialists, inactive people who remain still for extended periods have a 147% increased risk of having a heart attack or stroke.
Your anxiety might spike
Although we still don't fully understand the connections between sitting and mental and physical health, we do know that those who spend more time sitting are more likely to experience anxiety and sadness.
This might be the case because those who spend a lot of time sitting miss out on the benefits of fitness and physical activity. If so, getting up and moving might be beneficial.
Increase in weight
When you move your muscles, your body digests the fats and sugars you consume better. Digestion is less effective when you sit a lot. That way, you keep those fats and sugars as fat in your body.
Even if you exercise and yet spend a lot of time sitting down, you still risk developing health issues like metabolic syndrome. According to a recent study, you should engage in 60 to 75 minutes of moderate-intensity activity each day to counteract the risks of prolonged sitting.
Hips and back
Your hips and back won't support you much if you sit for a long time, just like your legs and gluteus won't. Your hip flexor muscles shorten while sitting, which may cause issues with your hip joints.
Long hours of sitting can also harm your back, mainly if you frequently adopt lousy posture or don't use a workstation or chair that is ergonomically constructed. Also, bad posture can compress your spine's discs, which can hasten premature deterioration and make it excruciatingly uncomfortable.
Small changes that you can make-
You can move at work more than you think:
- Take the stairs instead of the lift.
- Walk over and talk to your coworkers rather than email them.
- Take your lunch break from your desk and enjoy a short walk outside if possible.
- Organise walking sessions.
- Add more exercise to your daily routine
You can include exercise in your day in a variety of ways, including:
- Leave the car at home and go for a walk or a bike ride.
- Walking or riding a bike are som of the ways for longer journeys.
- Instead of using the elevator or escalator, take the steps, or at the very least, ascend it on foot.
- Get off the bus at the next stop and continue walking.
- Park further away from your destination and continue on foot.
- Determine how long it takes to walk one kilometer; you might discover that you can get where you're going more quickly on foot than by waiting for a bus or other transportation.