New studies suggest that inactivity, also called the “sitting disease,” has similar ill effects to that of smoking cigarettes! Dr James Levine, a doctor at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., has been studying the effects of sitting for years, insisting that research links sitting for prolonged periods with a number of health problems and even premature death from cardiovascular disease.
“In one study, adults who spent more than four hours a day sitting in front of the television had an 80 percent increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease compared with adults who spent less than two hours a day in front of the TV. This risk was independent of other risk factors such as smoking or diet.”
Levine says the solution is not extra time spent at the gym, which doesn’t seem to offset the risk.
“Rather, the solution seems to be less sitting and more moving,” he wrote. “Simply by standing, you burn three times as many calories as you do sitting. Muscle contractions, including the ones required for standing, seem to trigger important processes related to the breakdown of fats and sugars. When you sit down, muscle contractions cease and these processes stall.”
So what can you do if you’re stuck at a 9 to 5 deskjob? Ideally, you should urge your company to implement walking stations, computers set up with a treadmill so you can walk or at least stand at a computer. But most employees won’t have access to those, so just get up and move as much as you can. Eat your lunch at your desk instead of going out or eating in the cafeteria, and spend your lunch break going for a brisk walk instead. Stand up when you’re on the phone, and hand deliver messages instead of sending emails or making phone calls. Park a couple extra blocks from work or in the back of the parking lot, and always take the stairs!
