Get Out of Your Chair! It is bad for your health, and you can quickly experience serious back pain when sitting!
Are you sitting down? You may want to stand up to hear this news. Then sit again to ponder it. Stand up once more. Congratulations, you just did a squat. Feels pretty good, eh? Try walking around your office or home for a few minutes and see how much better your lower back feels. You also may have added some time to the end of your life.
Sitting Too Much May Shorten Your Life
There have been a slew of scientific studies lately that demonize excessive sitting. Recently, researchers have examined five of these studies and made a startling, if controversial, announcement. They proclaim that sitting for more than three hours a day chops off two years from the end of your life. Excessive sitting is also correlated with increased rates of disease such as cancer and diabetes. Of course, a correlation does not equal causation. Perhaps people who spend a lot of time on the couch are also avoiding the gym, eating unhealthful foods, and practicing other bad habits. Nonetheless, the negative aspects of prolonged sitting should not be ignored.
Who is At Risk?
Here at Dualfit we preach the importance of staying active, even during vacation, but daily exercise may not be enough. Even if you’re in the gym an hour a day, what about the eight hours you spend at a desk in your cubicle? People who work physical jobs doing manual labor shouldn’t be concerned with over-sitting. Even service employees like waiters or baristas spend most of the workday on their feet. If you live in a city and walk frequently for errands, or at least walk to the bus or train station, you have a “leg up” on your suburban counterparts who spend even more time sitting in their cars. If you’re an office employee that drives to work, or you work from a computer at home, you should be somewhat concerned about these reports.
Sitting Too Much Is Bad For Your Physique
Besides detrimental health effects, over-sitting can ruin your physique aesthetically. Sitting too much will ruin your posture and gather excessive fat around your midsection. By standing up straight, you’ll look taller and more muscular. By keeping your gut tight as you walk, as opposed to having it flop over your belt while seated, you’ll gain the firm, toned abdominals that you desire.
What Changes Can You Make?
Getting out of the chair and the drivers seat is not as difficult as it sounds. You just need to implement a few small changes successively until you’ve rearranged your habits. Start by getting some exercise in at work if you have time. If you can walk somewhere instead of driving, leave the car behind. Spend an evening going for a stroll instead of planting yourself on the couch to watch television. If you really want to go the extra mile, consider switching to a standing desk. Hemingway wrote using a standing desk. When he wasn’t seated at the bar, that is.
Shifting over to a lifestyle on your feet is definitely doable. Make the appropriate changes and get those extra years back on the end of your life.
