Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

The dangers of sitting around all day

#1
Magical Realist Offline
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/heal...of-sitting

"Living a sedentary lifestyle can be dangerous to your health. The less sitting or lying down you do during the day, the better your chances for living a healthy life.

If you stand or move around during the day, you have a lower risk of early death than if you sit at a desk. If you live a sedentary lifestyle, you have a higher chance of being overweight, developing type 2 diabetes or heart disease, and experiencing depression and anxiety.

How does a sedentary lifestyle affect your body?

Humans are built to stand upright. Your heart and cardiovascular system work more effectively that way. Your bowel also functions more efficiently when you are upright. It is common for people who are bedridden in hospital to experience problems with their bowel function.

When you are physically active, on the other hand, your overall energy levels and endurance improve, and your bones maintain strength.

Legs and gluteals (bum muscles)

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.

Weight

Moving your muscles helps your body digest the fats and sugars you eat. If you spend a lot of time sitting, digestion is not as efficient, so you retain those fats and sugars as fat in your body.

Even if you exercise but spend a large amount of time sitting, you are still risking health problems, such as metabolic syndrome. The latest research suggests you need 60–75 minutes per day of moderate-intensity activity to combat the dangers of excessive sitting.

Hips and back

Just like your legs and gluteals, your hips and back will not support you as well if you sit for long periods. Sitting causes your hip flexor muscles to shorten, which can lead to problems with your hip joints.

Sitting for long periods can also cause problems with your back, especially if you consistently sit with poor posture or don’t use an ergonomically designed chair or workstation. Poor posture may also cause poor spine health such as compression in the discs in your spine, leading to premature degeneration, which can be very painful.

Anxiety and depression

We don’t understand the links between sitting and mental health as well as we do the links between sitting and physical health yet, but we do know that the risk of both anxiety and depression is higher in people that sit more.

This might be because people who spend a lot of time sitting are missing the positive effects of physical activity and fitness. If so, getting up and moving may help.

Cancer

Emerging studies suggest the dangers of sitting include increasing your chances of developing some types of cancer, including lung, uterine, and colon cancers. The reason behind this is not yet known.

Heart disease

Sitting for long periods has been linked to heart disease. One study found that men who watch more than 23 hours of television a week have a 64 per cent higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease than men who only watch 11 hours of television a week.

Some experts say that people who are inactive and sit for long periods have a 147 per cent higher risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke.

Diabetes

Studies have shown that even five days lying in bed can lead to increased insulin resistance in your body (this will cause your blood sugars to increase above what is healthy). Research suggests that people who spend more time sitting have a 112 per cent higher risk of diabetes.

Varicose veins

Sitting for long periods can lead to varicose veins or spider veins (a smaller version of varicose veins). This is because sitting causes blood to pool in your legs.

Varicose veins aren’t usually dangerous. In rare cases, they can lead to blood clots, which can cause serious problems (see deep vein thrombosis, below).

Deep vein thrombosis

Sitting for too long can cause deep vein thrombosis (DVT), for example on a long plane or car trip. A deep vein thrombosis is a blood clot that forms in the veins of your leg.

DVT is a serious problem, because if part of a blood clot in the leg vein breaks off and travels, it can cut off the blood flow to other parts of the body, including your lungs, which can cause a pulmonary embolism. This is a medical emergency that can lead to major complications or even death.

Stiff neck and shoulders

If you spend your time hunched over a computer keyboard, this can lead to pain and stiffness in your neck and shoulders.
Reply
#2
C C Offline
(Jul 19, 2019 12:32 AM)Magical Realist Wrote: Even if you exercise but spend a large amount of time sitting, you are still risking health problems, such as metabolic syndrome. The latest research suggests you need 60–75 minutes per day of moderate-intensity activity to combat the dangers of excessive sitting.


For the busy desk or office jockey who can't even scrape up that amount of personal freedom... Walking intermittently up and down a mild to significant slope (including stairs if no hills are available) could reduce the time to 40 or even 30 minutes total.

For extra insurance, one might very gradually and incrementally build up to a mere 20 to forty push-ups: https://www.scivillage.com/thread-6765.html

Unless the person is already well over the hill in terms of cardiovascular health and arterial plaque. In which case even incrementally achieving and doing push-ups could actually cause a heart crisis, stroke, death, etc. Walking up a slope repeatedly might even trigger something. When one waits too late and the garbage diet isn't remedied, then the feeble exercise ship is all that's left at the docks (or a treadmill set at turtle-pace consuming plenty more time).
Reply
#3
Leigha Offline
Great post, MR. I think in corporate settings, it's the norm to be sitting for hours on end...so important to have an exercise routine that you consistently follow.

I'm an avid runner, so that's my thing. And it can't be expressed enough how much better I always feel after a good, long run.

But, even in the middle of one's workday, running a few flights of stairs, or going for a 20 minute walk outside at lunch time, can improve one's fitness, and offer a break from the office.
Reply
#4
Seattle Offline
I think the population seems to be evenly divided between those who get regular exercise and those that don't. For those who don't, doing so becomes harder and harder.

I've always kept active but as I've gotten older my body is more beaten up Smile but not moving makes things harder not easier so (hopefully) I'll never quit moving. I cancelled cable TV for various reasons, too much lying around watching too poor programming, expensive and I started going to a climbing gym (this was years ago now). I have a membership at the climbing gym that is about as much per month as what a month of cable TV was.

I walk to my neighborhood grocery store almost every day for a 2 mile round trip walk. It's pleasant, not especially exciting but I feel better by doing so. These are regular habits and that's what a lot of people don't do.

It doesn't matter if you go skiing once a month if you do nothing between skiing trips. In good weather I work around in my yard just to be outside doing something. During bad weather I'm climbing in the gym more.

If you don't have cable TV you don't just come home and plop down in front of the TV for the rest of the night.

Even if you spend a lot of time sitting in front of a computer you are still mentally more active and probably physically as well than just turning your brain off and staring at TV all night.

In my case, I always stay active by doing things I enjoy doing rather than by just making myself run, do pushups, lift weights etc. That doesn't work for me for very long because I don't enjoy doing it.

I used to go scuba diving a lot (it's available locally where I live). That was something you could even do at night. Just dealing with all the gear, loading the car, diving, cleaning up afterwards was a good workout.
Reply
#5
C C Offline
(Jul 19, 2019 07:27 AM)Seattle Wrote: I think the population seems to be evenly divided between those who get regular exercise and those that don't. For those who don't, doing so becomes harder and harder.

I've always kept active but as I've gotten older my body is more beaten up Smile but not moving makes things harder not easier so (hopefully) I'll never quit moving. I cancelled cable TV for various reasons, too much lying around watching too poor programming, expensive and I started going to a climbing gym (this was years ago now). I have a membership at the climbing gym that is about as much per month as what a month of cable TV was.

I walk to my neighborhood grocery store almost every day for a 2 mile round trip walk. It's pleasant, not especially exciting but I feel better by doing so. These are regular habits and that's what a lot of people don't do.

It doesn't matter if you go skiing once a month if you do nothing between skiing trips. In good weather I work around in my yard just to be outside doing something. During bad weather I'm climbing in the gym more.

If you don't have cable TV you don't just come home and plop down in front of the TV for the rest of the night.

Even if you spend a lot of time sitting in front of a computer you are still mentally more active and probably physically as well than just turning your brain off and staring at TV all night.

In my case, I always stay active by doing things I enjoy doing rather than by just making myself run, do pushups, lift weights etc. That doesn't work for me for very long because I don't enjoy doing it.

I used to go scuba diving a lot (it's available locally where I live). That was something you could even do at night. Just dealing with all the gear, loading the car, diving, cleaning up afterwards was a good workout.


Sounds great, Seattle. Keep it up.

We had a neighbor (retired) who was extremely active and constantly proclaiming he was going to live to be a hundred. But he had been undermining it his whole life by literally replacing water with drinking Pepsi, constantly. Various complications after a major heart attack and surgery, eventually doing him in his early 70s. (Still, that's pretty good compared to the sedentary types who get similarly zonked in their mid-50s. Active lifestyle may have tacked-on 17 years 12 years for him he otherwise wouldn't have had.)
Reply
#6
Seattle Offline
(Jul 20, 2019 04:17 PM)C C Wrote:
(Jul 19, 2019 07:27 AM)Seattle Wrote: I think the population seems to be evenly divided between those who get regular exercise and those that don't. For those who don't, doing so becomes harder and harder.

I've always kept active but as I've gotten older my body is more beaten up Smile but not moving makes things harder not easier so (hopefully) I'll never quit moving. I cancelled cable TV for various reasons, too much lying around watching too poor programming, expensive and I started going to a climbing gym (this was years ago now). I have a membership at the climbing gym that is about as much per month as what a month of cable TV was.

I walk to my neighborhood grocery store almost every day for a 2 mile round trip walk. It's pleasant, not especially exciting but I feel better by doing so. These are regular habits and that's what a lot of people don't do.

It doesn't matter if you go skiing once a month if you do nothing between skiing trips. In good weather I work around in my yard just to be outside doing something. During bad weather I'm climbing in the gym more.

If you don't have cable TV you don't just come home and plop down in front of the TV for the rest of the night.

Even if you spend a lot of time sitting in front of a computer you are still mentally more active and probably physically as well than just turning your brain off and staring at TV all night.

In my case, I always stay active by doing things I enjoy doing rather than by just making myself run, do pushups, lift weights etc. That doesn't work for me for very long because I don't enjoy doing it.

I used to go scuba diving a lot (it's available locally where I live). That was something you could even do at night. Just dealing with all the gear, loading the car, diving, cleaning up afterwards was a good workout.


Sounds great, Seattle. Keep it up.

We had a neighbor (retired) who was extremely active and constantly proclaiming he was going to live to be a hundred. But he had been undermining it his whole life by literally replacing water with drinking Pepsi, constantly. Various complications after a major heart attack and surgery, eventually doing him in his early 70s. (Still, that's pretty good compared to the sedentary types who get similarly zonked in their mid-50s. Active lifestyle may have tacked-on 17 years 12 years for him he otherwise wouldn't have had.)

I agree with your comments in general and certainly Pepsi isn't good for you but it's kind of hard to blame drinking Pepsi for the death of a guy in his 70's isn't it? Sure he could have lived longer but would that have directly been because he wasn't drinking Pepsi? Smile
Reply
#7
C C Offline
(Jul 20, 2019 08:50 PM)Seattle Wrote: I agree with your comments in general and certainly Pepsi isn't good for you but it's kind of hard to blame drinking Pepsi for the death of a guy in his 70's isn't it? Sure he could have lived longer but would that have directly been because he wasn't drinking Pepsi? Smile


"Absolute" isn't an adjectival default for every noun, statement, and comment that goes unaccompanied by "non-absolute". IOW, take it up with Sensitivity Council when it comes to having one's own personal cognitive preferences universally recognized and respected in a casual forum via everybody else lexically accommodating them. Otherwise, expect me to ignore and walk all over those tender sensibilities. (I'm being facetious or amiably sarcastic, if by remote chance you're like another member who erratically has overhead ZOOM issues in that department.)

But should you literally, extravagantly be prone to quibble over every trivial bit of recreational conversation that transpires in here, I see that you have elsewhere already stumbled upon THE person motivated by a similar predilection who can amply provide an endless round and round cartoon chase in that area. Wink
Reply
#8
Magical Realist Offline
(Jul 20, 2019 08:50 PM)Seattle Wrote:
(Jul 20, 2019 04:17 PM)C C Wrote:
(Jul 19, 2019 07:27 AM)Seattle Wrote: I think the population seems to be evenly divided between those who get regular exercise and those that don't. For those who don't, doing so becomes harder and harder.

I've always kept active but as I've gotten older my body is more beaten up Smile but not moving makes things harder not easier so (hopefully) I'll never quit moving. I cancelled cable TV for various reasons, too much lying around watching too poor programming, expensive and I started going to a climbing gym (this was years ago now). I have a membership at the climbing gym that is about as much per month as what a month of cable TV was.

I walk to my neighborhood grocery store almost every day for a 2 mile round trip walk. It's pleasant, not especially exciting but I feel better by doing so. These are regular habits and that's what a lot of people don't do.

It doesn't matter if you go skiing once a month if you do nothing between skiing trips. In good weather I work around in my yard just to be outside doing something. During bad weather I'm climbing in the gym more.

If you don't have cable TV you don't just come home and plop down in front of the TV for the rest of the night.

Even if you spend a lot of time sitting in front of a computer you are still mentally more active and probably physically as well than just turning your brain off and staring at TV all night.

In my case, I always stay active by doing things I enjoy doing rather than by just making myself run, do pushups, lift weights etc. That doesn't work for me for very long because I don't enjoy doing it.

I used to go scuba diving a lot (it's available locally where I live). That was something you could even do at night. Just dealing with all the gear, loading the car, diving, cleaning up afterwards was a good workout.


Sounds great, Seattle. Keep it up.

We had a neighbor (retired) who was extremely active and constantly proclaiming he was going to live to be a hundred. But he had been undermining it his whole life by literally replacing water with drinking Pepsi, constantly. Various complications after a major heart attack and surgery, eventually doing him in his early 70s. (Still, that's pretty good compared to the sedentary types who get similarly zonked in their mid-50s. Active lifestyle may have tacked-on 17 years 12 years for him he otherwise wouldn't have had.)

I agree with your comments in general and certainly Pepsi isn't good for you but it's kind of hard to blame drinking Pepsi for the death of a guy in his 70's isn't it? Sure he could have lived longer but would that have directly been because he wasn't drinking Pepsi? Smile
Soda, sports drinks tied to higher risk of early death
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-healt...SKCN1QZ2MG

"(Reuters Health) - People who consume lots of sugary sodas and sports drinks every day may be more likely to die early of causes like heart disease and cancer than people who rarely if ever indulge in these beverages, a U.S. study suggests.

Heavy soda and sports drink consumption was associated with a 28 percent higher risk of early death from any cause, a 31 percent higher risk of death from heart disease and a 16 percent increased risk of death from cancer, researchers found."
Reply
#9
C C Offline
(Jul 20, 2019 11:28 PM)Magical Realist Wrote:
(Jul 20, 2019 08:50 PM)Seattle Wrote:
(Jul 20, 2019 04:17 PM)C C Wrote: Sounds great, Seattle. Keep it up.

We had a neighbor (retired) who was extremely active and constantly proclaiming he was going to live to be a hundred. But he had been undermining it his whole life by literally replacing water with drinking Pepsi, constantly. Various complications after a major heart attack and surgery, eventually doing him in his early 70s. (Still, that's pretty good compared to the sedentary types who get similarly zonked in their mid-50s. Active lifestyle may have tacked-on 17 years 12 years for him he otherwise wouldn't have had.)

I agree with your comments in general and certainly Pepsi isn't good for you but it's kind of hard to blame drinking Pepsi for the death of a guy in his 70's isn't it? Sure he could have lived longer but would that have directly been because he wasn't drinking Pepsi? Smile

Soda, sports drinks tied to higher risk of early death
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-healt...SKCN1QZ2MG

"(Reuters Health) - People who consume lots of sugary sodas and sports drinks every day may be more likely to die early of causes like heart disease and cancer than people who rarely if ever indulge in these beverages, a U.S. study suggests.

Heavy soda and sports drink consumption was associated with a 28 percent higher risk of early death from any cause, a 31 percent higher risk of death from heart disease and a 16 percent increased risk of death from cancer, researchers found."

Plus, on several occasions he told us he hated water, with a passion that seemed well beyond the average consumer's mere boredom with its lack of flavor. When he visited I had to dredge up some kind of alternative drink from Hubby's own "I want a cardiovascular event as soon as possible" cache, albeit ingredient-loaded Pepsi wasn't specifically available.

Just to make clear, I took it that Seattle was being somewhat facetious himself... So responding in kind. But still had to point-out that should that instead be a valid proclivity of his also, then he's bumped into a fellow "mountain out of a mole hill-er" in the upper section ... With potentially exciting fireworks for onlookers looming ahead in the future. Big Grin
Reply
#10
confused2 Offline
As a smoker I am well aware that I could live another (say) 10 years if I gave up smoking. But it would be a very looong 10 years.
Can I have a smoke now please. No. Hells teeth,
Can I have a smoke now please. No. Hells teeth,
Can I have a smoke now please. No. Hells teeth,
Can I have a smoke now please. No. Hells teeth,
Can I have a smoke now please. No. Hells teeth,
...
Reply


Possibly Related Threads…
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  How not to die from sitting around too much Magical Realist 7 182 Oct 30, 2023 02:06 PM
Last Post: confused2
  Article Why suicide rates are dropping around the world C C 2 86 May 14, 2023 09:35 PM
Last Post: Syne
  Confirmed: ugly truth about sitting too much + An emotional sign of B12 deficiency C C 2 102 Jun 22, 2022 09:17 PM
Last Post: Magical Realist
  Dangers of chemical imbalance theory of depression + Immunity slowing down pandemic? C C 1 156 Aug 13, 2020 06:02 AM
Last Post: Syne
  Danger of water sitting in pipes of shutdown buildings + Poisoning from disinfecting C C 0 108 Apr 22, 2020 06:24 PM
Last Post: C C
  Dangers of ubiquitous soybean oil? + How Visine eye drops in mouth can kill C C 0 178 Jan 21, 2020 01:36 AM
Last Post: C C
  1 day of paid work a week is all we need for mental health benefits, claims study C C 0 244 Jun 21, 2019 01:51 AM
Last Post: C C
  Dangers of Ignoring Cognitive Inequality C C 1 802 Aug 29, 2018 08:47 PM
Last Post: Ostronomos
  Are nightmares good for you? + Dangers of Halloween + 7 Tips 4 Reducing Cancer Risk C C 1 793 Oct 28, 2015 10:27 PM
Last Post: Magical Realist



Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)