Sitting at a desk while reading this? You may be reducing your life expectancy.
Results from a recent study by professor Peter Katzmarzyk reveal that excessive sitting (3 or more hours per day) can shave years off your life, even if you are an exercising, cigarette-avoiding lady or gent. The research–aimed at nailing down the effects of sitting and television watching on life expectancy in the US–indicates that 2 years can be tacked on to life if adults reduce the time spent sitting each day to less than three hours, and 1.38 years can be added if they reduce television viewing to less than 2 hours per day.
Scary, right? (I am now writing this standing up.)
What is perhaps most troubling is the evidence that, no matter how healthy and active someone is, sitting is still harmful. “We see it in people who smoke and people who don’t,” stated Katzmarzyk (in an interview with Yahoo! Health). “We see it in people who are regular exercisers and those who aren’t. Sitting is an independent risk factor.”
This is not the only analysis revealing how sedentary activities may send us to an early grave. Authors of another study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise tracked and analyzed the lifestyles of 17,000 men and women over 13 years and found that people who sit for the majority of the day are 54 percent more likely to die of heart attacks.
But why is sitting so terrible? Sure, we burn less calories than we would standing and therefore weight gain may result, but this goes beyond packing on a few extra pounds. As far as the risk for heart disease and other illnesses, researchers are not entirely sure why sitting increases such risk. Marc Hamilton, Ph.D, one of Katzmarzyk’s colleagues, believes it may have to do with an enzyme called lipoprotein lipase (LPL). LPL breaks down fat and turns it into energy, and in research on rats, standing rats have nearly ten times more of it than those laying down. The fitness of the rats is irrelevant; when the rats lay down, LPL levels go down with them. This could play out similarly in humans.
Evidence of the harmful effects of sitting continues to emerge, but for those who work behind desks, finding an alternative to the office chair may be difficult. There are ways, however, to maximize leg time.
“Try to stand as much as you can,” Dr. Katzmarzyk said. “Typically when you’re on the telephone you can stand with speaker phone. Instead of emailing someone in the office, just get up and go talk to them.”
Other possibilities include using a stability ball
instead of a chair, designating 2-5 minutes every 30 minutes to take a stroll (or jog) down the hall or up a few flights of stairs, or simply standing while you work. If your colleagues eye you as you do squats while answering emails, link them to this blog or suggest an office-wide chair boycott.
Check out this infographic for additional sitting-related content or read the original study here.
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12 Comments
I totally agree to this, unfortunately, in my past I have sat at my desk almost 8 hours a day for years and only getting up about twice to go to the bathroom. I even eat at my desk. To think how many yrs. I have taken off my life…now I am always moving and if I do have to sit I get up as often as I can. Thank you so much for this wonderful article.
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This is great and something that I really should pay attention to. I work 2 jobs 1 part time and the other one full time. I think thats the only time I really get to do something when I am at work but at home I am more focusing on doing other things which is mostly sitting down on the computer to get those things done. I guess I have to do other things to get my life on track. I enjoy reading this because I have learned a lot from it.
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Oohh Dear, this got me running around my home block right away haha! Thanks for the great info.
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I totally agree to this in my past I have sat at my desk almost 6 hours a day now I am always moving and if I do have to sit I get up as often as I can I guess I have to do other things to get my life on track. I enjoy reading this because I have learned a lot from article this.Thank you so much for this wonderful article.
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I totally agree with the contents in this article. I worked in an office for 10 years straight and by the end of my ten years my weight was out of control. My next job was quite physical and there was NO sitting down. Within 3 months, my weight was back to normal and I had much more energy. If you are an office worker, you really do need lots of exercise to keep your weight under control.
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This is a good and interesting post. I will definitely start standing up more often now that I have read this. lol. thanks for sharing!
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I had severe back pain for quite some time a few years ago. Standing at work significantly helped my back along with better understanding it’s origin (TMS).
Definitely good advice for folks.
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I was bothered by this information since I was almost like sitting the whole time while working at home.. It’s really terrifying since people were used to sit all day during work and most of the time.
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As you mentioned it, it is kind of hard for people who work behind a desk for eight hours or more. But there must be a way, and anybody who reads this post I´m sure will do his/her best to find it. Thanks.
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Wooow, is too terrifying, but has much logical sense. Standing means have muscle and therefore more calories. From now on I will be more time standing.
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I just wanted to add a comment here to mention thanks for you very nice ideas about standing desk. Blogs are troublesome to run and time consuming thus I appreciate when I see well written material. Your time isn’t going to waste with your posts. Thanks so much and stick with it No doubt you will definitely reach your goals! have a great day!
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I have found a lot of informative stuff in your article. Keep it up. Thank you.
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