Sitting Can Affect Your Health
It’s spring so I thought that it was a good time to remind you that you needed to spring up onto your feet and be as active as possible.
As I started to write this I realised that I had been sitting for too long. I am trying to reduce the periods of time I sit down. I am also standing up on the bus and the tube more. It’s not good for you to sit for too long so even if you feel a bit silly do get up as often as possible. Try standing up about every thirty minutes or so, or try 10 minutes standing in every hour, move your arms and legs a bit as well. This applies to all ages not just the over 50s.
Sitting for too long without interruption has been found to have an impact on your cardio – vascular system and your metabolic function. The combination of excessive sitting and insufficient exercise can lead to an increased chance of heart disease particularly in men. The studies are implying that the more time you spend sitting the shorter your life. Researchers are showing that chronic sitting at work, commuting, watching television, working at the computer etc. are having an impact on your health. Prolonged periods of sitting increases your chances of getting heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, insomnia and premature death.
In a recent study it was found that 6 hours of uninterrupted sitting can wipe out the good effects of an hours exercise. From the studies it is becoming clearer that prolonged sitting is not good for you.
All exercise is good but walking is a great option for those who are no longer able to do other forms of exercise. It helps the elderly or people struggling with chronic disease that prevents them from engaging in more strenuous fitness regimes. A study in 2013 in the journal Stroke found that daily walking reduced the risk of a stroke in men over the age of 60. Walking for at least an hour or two could cut a man’s risk of stroke by as much as a third and it didn’t matter how brisk the pace.
In a study eleven healthy men aged between 20 and 35 had their femoral artery function tested in two randomised trials. In the first one they sat for three hours without moving their legs. In the second one they sat for three hours but walked on a treadmill for five minutes once every hour at a slow pace. Science Daily reported that the first study, where they didn’t move at all for three hours, showed that the flow in the main artery was impaired by as much as 50%. The results of the second test where they walked for five minutes every hour found no difference in the arterial function. Dr. Joan Vernikos has written a book call “Sitting Kills, Moving Heals”. She says that movement such as standing or bending down increases the force of gravity on your body and this is the key to counteracting the cellular degeneration that occurs when we are sitting down.
When you sit for too long your body slowly starts to build up plaque in the veins and arteries and with getting up and moving around it helps to disperse the plaque. Just standing up produces beneficial biological effects.
