Research has linked sitting for long periods of time with a number of health concerns. They include obesity and a cluster of conditions — increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist and unhealthy cholesterol levels — that make up metabolic syndrome.
Sitting or lying down for too long increases your risk of chronic health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. Too much sitting can also be bad for your mental health. Being active is not as hard as you think. There are lots of simple ways to include some physical activity in your day.
LOW risk indicates sitting less than 4 hours per day. MEDIUM risk indicates sitting 4 to 8 hours per day. HIGH risk indicates sitting 8 to 11 hours per day. VERY HIGH risk indicates sitting more than 11 hours per day.
“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.
Too much sitting, or as much as 10 hours a day of not moving around, can increase your risk of chronic disease, including high cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar — all risk factors linked to the No. 1 cause of death in the United States: heart disease.
The average American sits 8 hours a day. That is quite a stretch of time when our bodies could benefit from movement, physical activity or even standing. This sedentary period of time, researchers have found, can increase our risk of obesity, metabolic syndrome, heart disease, cancer and even death.
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.
Other research has linked prolonged sitting or other sedentary behavior to diabetes, poor heart health, weight gain, depression, dementia, and multiple cancers.
A short stroll every half hour may help undo the health harms associated with prolonged periods of sitting, a new study finds. Mounting evidence has suggested that sitting for long periods of time — an inescapable fact of life for many workers — is hazardous to health even for those who exercise regularly.
Many ergonomic experts recommend standing about 5-15 minutes out of every hour when using a standing desk, although research is ongoing. One study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine recommends that it's ideal to move, stand, and take breaks from sitting for a total of at least 2 hours in an 8 hour work day.
However, a closer look reveals that the pressure on the spine is at its lowest when we are lying in the supine position (it is under eight times less pressure than when we're sitting). It promotes most complete muscle relaxation, stress-relief and slower heartbeat.
It is not uncommon to feel 'wobbly' or unsteady on your feet after sitting for a long period. 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.
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.
Sitting also contributes to muscle imbalances and weakness. Due to lack of activation, you could develop weak glutes and, possibly, even flattened glutes. So, getting up and taking a walk every hour, at the least, will keep your glutes strong and support your legs.
But when you are sitting down for long periods, try to break it up. A common sense rule of thumb is to get up for five minutes every half hour.”
Sitting a lot not only makes your butt dark and belly fat, but can also cause long-term effects on your body's health.
Mental health conditions that one should be looking at in case it interferes with daily life are anxiety, ADHD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, bipolar disorders, and even depression. Anxiety is also one of the primary causes as it leads to the feeling of being 'unsettled'.
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.
Not getting enough physical activity can lead to heart disease—even for people who have no other risk factors. It can also increase the likelihood of developing other heart disease risk factors, including obesity, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes.
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.
The Pros. Besides less sitting time, standing at work has other benefits: More calories burned: One study showed that standing sheds 88 calories an hour, compared to 80 calories for sitting. Walking burns a lot more -- 210 calories an hour.
Sit for a maximum of 30 minutes at one go. Even sources like the National Health Service of UK, Pain Science and even Dr. Mercola are also recommending the same duration for sitting down.
The USC-led team has shown that resting postures used before the invention of chairs — like squatting and kneeling — may hold the answer, as they involve higher levels of muscle activity than chair-sitting. Those more active rest postures may help protect people from the harmful effects of inactivity.