WTFlocka haven’t you heard that your office chair could be killing you?! Yes, a major study by the Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise Journal revealed the dangerous health effects of a sedentary work lifestyle. Scientists at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana analyzed the lifestyles of more than 17,000 men and women over 13 years, and found that people who sit for most of the day are 54 percent more likely to die of heart attacks.
Make no mistake
“Regularly exercising is not the same as being active,” says Peter Katzmarzyk, Ph.D., lead researcher at Pennington, the nation’s leading obesity research center. This study is remarkable and credible since it was studied for 13 years.
“We’ve done a lot to keep people alive longer, but that doesn’t mean we’re healthier,” says Hamilton.
The death rates may be 43 percent lower than it was in 1960, but check out the stats: less than 1 percent of Americans had diabetes and only 13 percent were obese. Nowadays 6 percent are diagnosed with diabetes and 35 percent are obese.
“Humans sit too much, so you have to treat the problem specifically,” says Hamilton. “The cure for too much sitting isn’t more exercise. Exercise is good, of course, but the average person could never do enough to counteract the effect of hours and hours of chair time.”
What Happens When You Sit Too Long
According to Men’s Health:
1. Screws up your posture. The fascia, the tissue that connects individual muscles into a full-body network, begins to set when you stay in one position for too long, says Men’s Health advisor Bill Hartman, P.T., C.S.C.S., a physical therapist in Indianapolis. If you’re hunched over a keyboard all day, this eventually becomes your normal posture.
2. Makes you fatter. This happens for two reasons. First, you burn 60 more calories an hour when standing versus sitting. But more importantly, says Hartman, when you spend too much time sitting, your largest muscle group—the glutes (a.k.a. your butt)—become lazy and quit firing. This is called gluteal amnesia. And it means you burn fewer calories.
3. Causes lower back pain. Weak glutes push your pelvis forward, putting stress on the spine, says Hartman. Here’s the other unseemly thing that happens when your pelvis tilts forward: Your belly protrudes, making you look 5 months pregnant.
Survival Tips: ‘Stop trying to be fit, and start trying to live fit’
According to Men’s Health:
Strategy #1: Take two breaks an hour. Grab a drink from the water fountain. Pop over to the cube next door to say hi. Or simply stand and stretch for a minute. A European Heart Journal study of 5,000 men and women found that the quarter who took the most breaks during the day were 1.6 inches thinner than the quarter who took the least.
Strategy #2: Stand during phone calls. It may seem like a small thing but, as Hamilton told Masters: “Small choices will help move you in the right direction. . . . It all adds up, and it all matters.”
Strategy #3: Don’t write long emails. If crafting an email will take longer than 15 minutes, go talk to the person instead. Or stand up and call them.
Strategy #4: Ask HR for a standup desk. Australian researchers found that workers who log more than 6 hours of seat time a day are up to 68 percent more likely to be overweight. If you make the changes above and your waistline isn’t shrinking, a standup desk may be the answer. Make sure the screen is at arm’s length, and the top at eye level. Position the keyboard so your elbows are bent 90 degrees.
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