If you haven’t kept up with this century’s lifestyle alerts on sedentary behaviour, scientists have now resolutely proven that sitting for long periods daily increases a person’s risk for cancer, diabetes, heart disease, mental health problems and early death. In fact, when researchers first listed inactivity as a major risk factor for disease and illness, the harmful effects of sitting were found to be analogous to those of smoking.
When researchers first started investigating this issue, it was believed that the harmful effects of sitting applied even if you regularly engaged in physical activity. However, recent studies have now clearly shown that exercise does offset the negative effects of sitting, revealing that the previous research which said otherwise was flawed.
This is good news given that the majority of people today have no choice but to sit for long hours in their jobs. Since we now know precisely how to care for and protect a sedentary body against disease, we can have a major impact on the lives of millions of people who sit daily.
Is sitting really the “new smoking”?
A professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, Dr. I-Min Lee, who has been studying the ramifications of inactivity for decades, stated: "Everybody knows smoking is bad for your health. But what isn't common knowledge is that physical inactivity is as powerful a risk factor as smoking.”
At first, it seems like a drastic statement, designed to capture attention by shocking its audience. However, in 2012, Dr Lee and a number of other experts on health and exercise found that inactivity (less than 150 minutes of moderate exercise weekly) was singlehandedly responsible for an increased risk of diabetes, heart disease and a number of cancers, including breast and colon. In light of the mounting research, the experts determined that inactivity had caused more than 5 million deaths worldwide each year, which is equivalent to the number of smoking related deaths.
What goes wrong in our bodies when we sit all day?
Very few parts of our physical body escape the harmful effects of sitting. These include, but are certainly not limited to, the following:
Brain fog & impaired brain function: When we move out bodies, fresh blood and oxygen is pumped through the brain, triggering the release of mood and brain enhancing chemicals. When we sit for long periods, the whole body slows down, and the supply of fuel to the brain is disrupted. This results in a foggy mind, impaired brain function and damaged brain cells, as well as being associated with lower cognitive function and an increased risk of developing dementia.
Neck and shoulder pain: If you sit at a desk, you develop a habit of pulling your neck forward towards your computer and hunching into your upper back to type on your keyboard. This causes permanent damage in both the neck and cervical spine. This slumping through the upper body also strains the shoulder and back muscles which connect the neck to the shoulders.
Heart disease: We burn less fat and blood flow is sluggish when we sit all day, causing the heart to be clogged by fatty acids, as well as leading to high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Studies show that those with sedentary lifestyles are also twice as likely to have cardiovascular disease.
Diabetes: When the body is sitting for long periods, its muscles fail to respond to insulin production, resulting in the pancreas producing an overabundance of insulin. Excessive insulin in the body leads to diabetes and other illnesses.
Cancer: Multiples studies have linked sitting to a greater risk of developing cancer, including breast, colon, and endometrial cancers.
Back and hip problems: Research shows that sitting without a break for even just 4 hours can cause both an inflexible spine and compression of the discs in your low back, leading to disc degeneration and extreme back pain. Regular long bouts of sitting also shortens your hip flexors, which in combination with compression of the discs in your low back, affects your digestion, posture and energy.
Muscle degeneration: Your abdominal muscles contract to help you stand and walk, but when you sit, they remain idle. Sitting makes your abdominals soft and with a stiff back (see above), your posture is destroyed and can result in hyperlodosis “sway back”.
Poor circulation in legs: As we sit, blood circulation is slowed and fluid collects in the legs. This causes ankle swelling, varicose vains and DVT (deep vein thrombosis).
Weak bones: The dramatic increase in cases of osteoporosis is also attributable to our sedentary lifestyles. Walking and running encourage our bones to develop more densely and strongly, particularly in the lower part of the body. When we sit for long hours, our bones lose thickness and density.
How do we minimise the impact of sitting through exercise?
Research now shows that exercise of approximately 45 - 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity for at least 5 days per week, will counteract the heightened risk of death associated with prolonged sitting. Contrary to what was once the popular belief, data from multiple studies showed that people who exercise in this manner did not demonstrate any increased risk for developing diabetes, cancer or heart disease, despite the amount of sedentary time they recorded.
It is also believed that lower intensity physical activities and exercise done over the course of the day are also beneficial to reduce the adverse effects of inactivity.
Experts say that the type of exercise you do isn’t necessarily important (though the level of intensity is), and it can be done all at the same time, or even accrued over the course of the day in shorter intervals.
Practices such as yoga and Pilates specifically target those areas of the body that are at greatest risk of harm as a result of inactivity – particularly the legs, hips, back, shoulders and core. Both these practices help to encourage a longer spine and work to correct poor posture, as well as releasing tight hips, hamstrings, backs and shoulders. They are certainly a great complement to a more vigorous exercise routine where a person is desk bound for large portions of their day.
Develop a wellness strategy
Either way, if you sit for a job and it’s something that you can’t change, you need to begin to develop healthier patterns around your sedentary lifestyle to offset the negative effects sitting has on your body. Developing an in-office wellness strategy where the whole office joins together in physical activity is a great way to start to combat the negative effects of sitting.
I am really passionate about helping people create healthy lifestyles and ultimately reducing the negative effects caused by a sedentary lifestyle. If you are interested in implementing a wellness program for your office or yourself, contact Dwana at Align Life to discuss possible solutions.