The New Health Scare: Prolonged Sitting


Did you know that we spend more time sitting than sleeping? Yes, actually the amount of time more and more people spend on the chair had disturbingly increased through the years that it has become bad for our health. Here are some facts about it.

We Sit An Average of 12 Hours Everyday
It may not seem like it because we feel tired all the time but it’s true. Your desk job greatly contributes to the time you spend propped on a chair.

Frequent Interruptions In Sitting Helps
Standing up to stretch, get water, walk, or march on your place even for a few minutes in every hour of sitting lessen those back pains.
Our Body Is Designed For More Movement
We may be far behind medieval times where people walk miles to get food or water, but our body was definitely isn’t made to be immobile for extended period of time either.

Prolonged Sitting Leads To A Lot Of Chronic Diseases
People who sit all the time have high risks of obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even cancer.

Even If You Do Exercise, That’s Not Gonna Counteract All The Sitting That You’ve Done
Even if you play sports, workout 3 times a week, and eat healthy, if you spend the rest of the time you’re not doing those three on a chair, that won’t make you less susceptible to the bad effects of sitting.

Doing These Three Things Helps Lessen The Bad Effects Of Sitting:
  • Know what makes you sit and try to reduce them gradually
  • Try to stand more than sit
  • When watching TV, use commercials as an opportunity to break the sitting

Other Things That Can Help You Break The Habit:

Avoid It As Much As Possible
Between standing and sitting, standing would be the lesser evil. So you’d be better off using a standing desk at work, fold the clean clothes on a higher table so you can stand instead.

Use Fitness Tracker
It helps, especially for those who totally get occupied with the task at hand. It will remind you how long and well you’ve slept, it will measure your activity level, and even motivate you to push yourself when you’re a little unmotivated to walk more or eat better.

Exercise Proper Posture Even When Sitting
For those times when sitting can’t be helped, you should at least do it right. Proper sitting posture lessens the pressure that your lower back would have to bear which causes those back pains.
Inject Walking In Your Routine
Walk more! It doesn’t just tone your legs, but it also improves your mood, balance and coordination as well as opens up your lungs more for better breathing.

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