Sitting Too Much? Here’s How To Ward Off The Effects

8/2/10 Posted in News  |  0 Comments

Many people find themselves sitting for several hours a day, whether at a desk job, watching TV or playing video games, or driving long distances. This is taking a toll on our health as a culture and as a species. “Our bodies have evolved over millions of years to do one thing: move,” says James Levine,M.D., Ph.D., of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and author of Move a Little, Lose a Lot. “As human beings, we evolved to stand upright. For thousands of generations, our environment demanded nearly constant physical activity.” Electronic living has changed us from active creatures to sedentary creatures who can shop, chat, pay bills, and work all from a seated position.

When you sit for an extended period of time, your body starts to shut down at the metabolic level, says Marc Hamilton, Ph.D., associate professor of biomedical sciences at the University of Missouri. When muscles—especially the big ones meant for movement, like those in your legs—are immobile, your circulation slows and you burn fewer calories. Key flab-burning enzymes responsible for breaking down triglycerides (a type of fat) simply start switching off. Sit for a full day and those fat burners plummet by 50 percent, Levine says. 

That’s not all. The less you move, the less blood sugar your body uses; research shows that for every two hours spent on your backside per day, your chance of contracting diabetes goes up by 7 percent. Your risk for heart disease goes up, too, because enzymes that keep blood fats in check are inactive. You’re also more prone to depression: With less blood flow, fewer feel-good hormones are circulating to your brain.  

“When you sit all day, your hip flexors and hamstrings shorten and tighten, while the muscles that support your spine become weak and stiff,” he says. It’s no wonder that the incidence of chronic lower-back pain among women has increased threefold since the early 1990s. 

Get Your Move On
Shake things up throughout the day by interrupting your sedentary stints as often as possible. “Stand up every half hour,” says Neville Owen, Ph.D., of the University of Queensland. “If you have to sit for longer than that, take more extended and active breaks and move around for a few minutes before sitting back down.” 

When you’re reading e-mail and taking phone calls, do it standing. Walk with colleagues to brainstorm ideas. And consider trading your chair for a large stability ball. “It forces you to engage your muscles, and you’re likely to stand up more because you’re not melting into a chair,” Lentz says. 

At home, it’s simple: Limit TV time to two hours a day or less. Better yet, watch it from a treadmill or exercise bike. Among women, the risk for metabolic syndrome—a constellation of health woes including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar—shoots up 26 percent for every hour per day they spend watching the tube. 

Not sure how much of a difference these mini moves will make? Check out the chart below. Swapping a more active approach for just a few of your daily activities can help stave off the one-to two-pound weight gain most women accumulate every year—and it can keep your metabolism buzzing the way nature intended it to. 

Instead of This: 
Sitting at your desk
83 Calories burned per hour
Do This:
Stand at your desk
115 Calories burned per hour

Instead of This:
Riding the elevator
128
Do This:
Take the stairs
509

Instead of This:
Shopping online
96
Do This:
Shop at the mall
(walking briskly and carrying packages)
147

Instead of This:
Calling for takeout
96
Do This:
Cook at home
128

Instead of This:
Talking on the phone seated
102
Do This:
Pace while chatting
147

Instead of This:
E-mailing a coworker
96
Do This:
Walk to her office
128

Instead of This:
Watching TV
64
Do This:
Make out
96

Instead of This:
Playing a seated video game
32
Do This:
Play Wii
178

Total calories:
697 vs. 1,448*
*based on a 140-pound woman 

See the full article at Women’s Health Magazine online.