Small changes, such as breaking up each hour of sitting time with a few minutes of walking or spending 10 minutes per day on bodyweight resistance exercises, can go a long way. By sticking with a plan, developing healthy habits, and getting support from your community, you'll be able to get back into a routine.
Sitting too much can be deadly. But all hope is not lost, even for the most committed of couch potatoes: In a new study published in the journal Circulation, researchers say that you can make up for years of sedentary behavior with two years of exercise.
Absolutely. It's never too late to start making positive changes in your lifestyle and reversing the damage caused by a sedentary lifestyle. Even if you've been inactive for years, it's still possible to improve your physical and mental health with regular exercise.
Yes, you can reverse some of the effects of sitting by staying active in your free time. The more active you are before or after work, the more it can reduce your risk. Some evidence suggests those who spend 90 minutes doing moderate- to high-intensity activity each day completely reversed their risk from sitting.
Start slowly...if you are completely sedentary ANY amount of movement is more than you were doing before, this is progress. No need to rush headlong into what will become a lifestyle, so give yourself grace and take your time developing new habits. Experiment with different types of exercise and find what you like.
The PAF provides a theoretical estimate of the effects of a risk factor on an outcome at the population level, in this case, all-cause mortality. The results indicate that sedentary behaviours are accounting for between 1.4 and 2.0 years of life expectancy at birth.
Change The Way You Sit: Get Moving
The Sitting Disease has a new antidote: movement. Nothing so profoundly impacts our health and staves off the ill effects of static sitting than moving. If you are an office worker, you may be the most at risk for Sitting Disease.
As with all of our muscles, if you don't use them, you lose muscle capacity. The muscles of your feet, ankles and lower legs become weaker with inactivity, causing muscular tension, stiffness and aches.
Beginners should start with low- to moderate-intensity exercises, gradually increasing as they progress. For muscle strengthening, aim for at least two sessions per week. To boost aerobic fitness, target 300 minutes or more per week.
Work sites, schools, homes, and public spaces have been (and continue to be) re-engineered in ways that minimize human movement and muscular activity. These changes have a dual effect on human behavior: people move less and sit more.
Lack of physical activity. University of Liverpool. "Just 2 Weeks of inactivity could lead to changes that increase risk of developing disease." Accessed April 17, 2022.
The most health benefit comes when inactive people become moderately active. Try to work up to 150 minutes a week brisk walking. Making exercise a regular part of your life can have a major impact on your health. The key is to choose activities that involve most major muscle groups (walking, cycling, and swimming).
Impact of lying down
Unlike sitting, lying flat reduces pressure on the spine, making it less likely to cause musculoskeletal issues like back pain. However, habitual lying down during waking hours can lead to similar negative effects of sitting, like slowed circulation and reduced energy expenditure.
Low risk: Sitting for less than 4 hours per day. Medium risk: Sitting for 4–8 hours per day. High risk: Sitting for 8–11 hours per day. Very high risk: Sitting for more than 11 hours per day.
If you aren't physically active, you are at higher risk for: Cardiovascular disease. High blood pressure. Type 2 diabetes.
It is thought excessive sitting slows the metabolism – which affects our ability to regulate blood sugar and blood pressure, and metabolise fat – and may cause weaker muscles and bones. Research on astronauts in the early 1970s found life in zero gravity was linked with accelerated bone and muscle loss and ageing.
An NHLBI-funded study found that enough and sustained exercise can reverse the damage done to aging hearts by a sedentary lifestyle, and prevent future heart failure.
Habits like regular standing, attention to posture, healthy eating, desk yoga, and taking stairs were recommended to counteract the negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle. Too much sitting is silently killing you by raising your risk of heart disease and cancer.
Researchers have found that engaging in aerobic exercise four to five days a week for two years can be what it takes to start to reverse decades of sedentary living.
In addition to the exercise recommendations for adults, people 65 and older should do activities that improve balance. According to CDC data, American adults move less as they age. Still, according to CDC data, there's a more significant drop in physical activity for people aged 65 and older than those aged 55-64.
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.
Estimates range from 1,600 to 2,400 calories per day for adult women and 2,000 to 3,000 calories per day for adult men. Within each age and sex category, the low end of the range is for sedentary individuals; the high end of the range is for active individuals.