Why prolonged sitting can harm your body head to toe

Are you sitting down right now?  If so, stand up and move as sitting too much could be harming your health more than you realize. And the real surprise is that may be true even if you exercise.

Does this scenario sound familiar to you?  You work out the recommended 150 minutes per week of moderate-to-vigorous intensity exercise and afterwards you just want to kick back by sitting down, taking it easy, watch some TV or get on the computer. Sounds like you’re an active couch potato - you exercise, but the vast majority of your day is primarily still spent sitting. 

Studies take on prolonged sitting

Plenty of studies have warned of us of the hazards of sitting too much throughout the day.  This is also known as sedentary behavior (from the Latin sedere, “to sit”) which includes our time spent sitting at the workplace, commuting by cars, trains or planes, screen time (TV, computer or playing video games) or low level activity in general.  Our society has removed much of our need to do extensive physical work and replaced it with modern conveniences allowing us to be in a seated position most of the day.  Our bodies are built to move and the less we do this, the more our bodies weaken and decline.

A recent published study found that alternating positions between sitting and standing several times each day results in reducing fatigue and pain while increasing energy and productivity.  Also, using a sit-stand desk at work provides an opportunity to increase the amount of calories burned during the day. 

Even if you meet the recommended health guideline for physical activity, if the majority of your day is still spent sitting for extended periods of time such as at work, they are identified as an active couch potato according to a 2010 study.  This active couch potato phenomenon makes you susceptible to developing metabolic syndrome which includes increased blood pressure, diabetes and elevated LDL cholesterol and/or triglyceride levels.   This study also looked at the sedentary activity of  TV time being a negative influence in a couple of ways – one, most of us sit to watch TV and two, because our hands are free when watching TV, it provides a greater opportunity for consuming more calories from food and beverages.  The more we sit during the day, the less calories we burn and the more likely we will gain weight.

What exactly does too much sitting do to the body?

Here are a few problems from head to toe of how sitting too long can harm the body:

·      Heart disease – Prolonged sitting has been linked to high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol and are twice as likely to die from cardiovascular disease then those who sit the least.  Sitting means muscles burn less fat and blood flows sluggishly during that time, allowing fatty acid to more easily clog blood vessels. 

·      Weak abdominal muscles – When standing or moving, the abdominal muscles keep us upright.  But when sitting, many of us tend to slump leading to weak abs.  Tight back muscles and unused abs hurt posture by exaggerating the spine’s natural arch, a condition called hyperlordosis, or swayback.

·      Tight hips – Flexible hips keep us balanced but chronic sitting leads to hip flexor muscles in front that rarely extend becoming short and tight.  This limits range of motion and stride length.  Decreased hip mobility is a main reason elderly people tend to fall.

·      Soft glutes – Sitting on your bum all day does absolutely nothing for it.  When our glutes get weak and soft, this hurt stability and the ability to push off and the ability to maintain a powerful stride.

·      Poor circulation in the legs – If a good chunk of our day is spent sitting, those long periods of time idle slows blood circulation.  Fluids tend to pool in the legs resulting in swollen ankles and varicose veins to dangerous blood clots called deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

·      Soft, weak bones – Bones require weight-bearing activities frequently throughout the day such as walking and running to stimulate hip and lower-body bones to grow thicker, denser, and stronger. 

·      Neck strain – If most of your daily work is spent seated in front of a computer or on the phone, you’re likely to crane your neck forward toward the keyboard or tilt your heat to cradle a phone putting strain on the cervical vertebrae. 

Ideas for moving more and sitting less throughout the day

There is a very helpful website students from the University of New Mexico have created called “Don’t Sit, Get Fit.”  It gives numerous ideas on ways to reduce sitting and increase movement during the day whether at work, school, home or in your lifestyle.  Here is a sampling of those ideas:

·      Take a walk break every time you take a coffee break

·      Stand up and move whenever you have a drink of water at work

·      When watching TV, stand up and move every time a commercial comes on

·      Pace the sidelines at your kids’ athletic games

·      After reading 6 pages of a book get up and move a little

The next time you find yourself sitting longer than you should, stand up and move around – every little bit of activity adds up over the course of a day keeping you more lean, more fit and less likely to develop metabolic syndrome.