Sitting for long periods can lead to weakening and wasting away of the large leg and gluteal muscles. These large muscles are important for walking and for stabilising you. If these muscles are weak you are more likely to injure yourself from falls, and from strains when you do exercise.
It can be due to reduced blood flow, tight muscles and ligaments, fluid pooled in the body's lower extremities, or pins and needles sensations in the feet.
Sitting for long periods of time can cause poor circulation. This excessive pressure in the veins of the lower extremities can also increase blood pooling in the legs, which can contribute to the development of vein disease. As vein problems increase, it can lead to more severe leg conditions over time.
But when experts analyze the handfuls of studies examining the effects of prolonged sitting, the data shows that sitting for more than eight hours a day can have a serious impact on a person's health.
Researchers analyzed 13 studies of sitting time and activity levels. They found that those who sat for more than eight hours a day with no physical activity had a risk of dying similar to that posed by obesity and smoking.
To reverse the effects of too much sitting on our bodies, we need to increase our energy expenditure throughout the day by exercising and reducing the time of prolonged sitting.
Causes of Leg Fatigue or Heaviness
They include: Varicose veins: The leg veins become enlarged. Peripheral arterial disease (PAD): Buildup of fat deposits in the artery walls, thus, causing inadequate circulation of blood in the legs. Overtraining syndrome: Excess training or physical activities to improve performance.
“Sitting all day will make the front of your body tighten up—especially your hip flexors, rectus femoris (a quad muscle), pectoralis (chest), upper traps (upper back), and anterior scalenes (the front of your neck),” explains David Reavy, a Chicago-based orthopedic physical therapist at React Physical Therapy.
Abnormal development of the muscles or bones of your legs or feet. Arthritis of the hips, knees, ankles, or feet. Cerebellar disorders, which are disorders of the area of the brain that controls coordination and balance. Foot problems, including corns and calluses, sores, and warts.
Problems with the joints, (such as arthritis), bones (such as deformities), circulation (such as peripheral vascular disease), or even pain can make it difficult to walk properly. Diseases or injuries to the nerves, muscles, brain, spinal cord, or inner ear can affect normal walking.
Arthritis leg pain generally is associated with specific joints--either feet, knees, or hips. When cartilage around the joint breaks down, pain, stiffness, and swelling can result. Arthritic joints may also be warm and have limited movement. If joint pain lasts beyond three days, see a health care provider.
The amount of shortening added up to about eight years of aging, the scientists estimated—meaning that inactive women who spent more time sitting were about eight years older, on average, than those who were inactive but spent less time sedentary.
Including exercise and physical activity, people across the U.S. only spend approximately 3 hours out of the day simply standing. This phenomenon has been coined as “Sitting Disease,” which, broadly speaking, is defined as a condition of increased sedentary behavior associated with adverse health effects.
The longer one sits, the more strenuous it becomes for the body. If you suffer with nerve pain, sitting for long periods of time is slowly damaging the nerves over time. Sitting can affect the nerves most vulnerable to pain sensations, such as tingling, burning or stabbing pain.
Imbalance may be triggered by muscular overload and fatigue, as well as by weak or unstretched muscles. Sitting for long periods also causes permanent muscular imbalance. This is especially the case if you form a hunched back, so that the back muscles become long and weak, whereas the abdominal muscles become shorter.
Lower crossed syndrome is a postural imbalance that occurs in the muscles of lower back, pelvis, and hip joints. This condition is often a result of prolonged sitting and will be exacerbated by poor posture. While sitting, some muscles are stuck in a shortened position—a position which begins to take hold.
Leg discomfort symptoms significantly increased after 120 min sitting in both men and women. Based on these results, the cause of leg discomfort symptoms due to prolonged sitting is estimated from the results of SWV and leg circumference measurements.
Muscle weakness in the legs may indicate a neuromuscular disease is present. These diseases lead to a loss of functioning in nerves and muscles throughout the body. They include muscular dystrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), multiple sclerosis (MS), myasthenia gravis and fibromyalgia.
Combining running and walking with strength training and other forms of aerobic exercise like swimming, elliptical training and cycling can add variety to your workout and can greatly improve your performance. Sports like soccer and basketball are great for improving leg power as well.
The strategy that worked best was five minutes of walking for every 30 minutes of sitting. This strategy also had a dramatic effect on how the volunteers' bodies responded to large meals, producing a 58% reduction in blood pressure spikes compared with sitting all day.
Remember to move for approximately three minutes every 30 – 60 minutes. Why? Research shows that staying stationary – whether sitting or standing – for long periods of time, can be bad for your health. Our bodies are built to move and doing so for approximately three minutes every hour helps us feel our best.