The Ill Effects of Prolonged Sitting

by Ram

Van Gough's Chair by Vincent van Gough

A quick question: are you sitting while reading my blog post? If you are, then maybe you should stand up to read it! According to a new study, sitting for long periods puts you at a risk of early death. (This sentence definitely made you stand, correct?) Most people in present day society spend the majority of their time sitting. A typical U.S. adult sits for an average of ten hours per day. Too much sitting is associated with numerous problems, including obesity, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, colorectal cancer among others. Prolonged sitting does the following:

• decreases the activity of an enzyme which helps burn fat
• reduces bone mineral density and blocks new bone formation, raising the risk of fracture
• increases cholesterol levels and reduces the diameter of arteries putting the individual at risk for heart disease
• decreases insulin sensitivity and triggers type-2 diabetes

For many of us sitting for eight hours a day at our job is inevitable. Compounded with extra sitting outside of work is what makes it hazardous. Most importantly, the ill effects of prolonged sitting occur regardless of the individual’s physical activity. Those who exercise daily may assume that their vigorous training regimen protects them from the harmful effects of prolonged sitting. Unfortunately, it doesn't. Several independent research studies show that even an intense activity will not undo the deleterious effects that come from sitting for 8-10 hours in a day. Thus, too much sitting is harmful even if you're getting enough exercise. This means you could be meeting the recommended guidelines for a daily exercise but you will still be at higher risk of disease if you sit for long periods each day.

Recall that in my earlier posts The Power of Mental Exercise, Part 1 and Part 2, I emphasized incorporating mental exercises as a daily regimen to keep physically and mentally fit.  Now it appears that simply sitting or remaining sedentary changes certain brain cells such that it affects not just the brain but the heart as well, putting the individual at risk of heart disease. Findings from a recent study showed that individuals who sat for more than 11 hours daily were 40 percent more likely to die within the next three years than those who sat for four hours or less daily—even when their physical activity at other times of the day was accounted for. Prolonged sitting has become the norm rather than an exception. In today’s society it is very easy to end up sitting 12-15 hours a day. If you have a commute of 1-2 hours round trip, work in an office that requires you to sit for an average of 8 hours and follow it up by watching TV for a couple of hours of each night, you end up spending the vast majority of hours sitting.

This is against the evolutionary norms for humans as the human body simply is not built to sit for prolonged hours. Go back to history and notice that the cave man was always active—often quite strenuously—to get food, find shelter and simply survive. They naturally spent a lot of time outdoors, walking, hunting, gathering, and performing various other physically oriented tasks. To them this was not a physical exercise or "working out." It was just normal life.  In today’s world, activity/exercise is primarily an intervention; it is something we do to guard against the negative impacts of a sedentary lifestyle.

The question is: how can you avoid the dreaded effects that come from prolonged sitting? The only available option is to drastically change your lifestyle. Standing for long hours by no means is the answer or a panacea. Prolonged standing comes with its own baggage of ill health, especially to the legs, knees and lower back. For optimal health we need to reduce sitting time and increase "non-exercise" physical activity. Most experts recommend a 50:50 sit-stand allowance. Experts also agree that it is beneficial to interrupt sitting time as often as possible. One way to do this is to move or stretch for at least 10 minutes for each hour of sitting time.

Here are a few strategies to lessen the sitting hours and help incorporate more physical activity throughout the day:

1. Do not sit for more than two hours continuously. Take a break to do yoga or walk. Try poses from our office yoga series (see Mini Office Yoga Sequence and Office Yoga Sequence. And remember to bring supplemental yoga with you. Stand up for at least two minutes for each hour of sitting. Short breaks can make a big difference. If you have trouble remembering to take a break from sitting, use an alarm to draw your attention.

2. If your occupation involves sitting for long periods, you can work at a standing desk. The potential benefits from a standing desk are manifold, including, higher productivity, reduced absenteeism and lower health care costs among many. And if you are attending meetings that require long hours of sitting, try standing midway through the meeting. If you're worried about any impending stares from your colleagues or manager, just hand over this article to them.

3. Take every opportunity you can to walk. Use the stairs instead of the elevators to get to your location. Use the bathroom on the ground floor or the basement and take the stairs to go down. In the parking lot, try parking farthest away from the building’s entrance door. If you are in the shopping mall or grocery store, try parking farthest away, not only from the store entrance but also from the parking cart corrals. A yoga trick you can try while you are walking—as long as you’re not carrying anything—is to cross your arms behind your back and hold your elbows or forearms. This will open your chest and stretch the fronts of your shoulders, which become tight from typing, driving, and so on.

4. Walk or bicycle to work. If you live too far away to walk or ride, consider driving part of the way and walking or using the bicycle for the remainder. For people who cycle regularly, you can use your yoga practice to balance your body (see Yoga and Cycling).

5. Instead of sitting on a couch while you are watching TV, reading, listening to music and/or socializing, try sitting on the floor in different seated positions, including Seated Crossed Legs, Cobbler’s pose, Hero pose, Thunderbolt pose, Wide Angle pose (Nina likes to fold laundry in that pose), and so on. Try to change positions every 10 minutes or so. And add activity to your TV time by doing supplemental yoga during commercial breaks.

Notice that all the household furniture from lunch tables to computer desks is designed with sitting in mind. So an upright, activity-centered lifestyle will require modifications to the furniture setting.

There is no doubt that excessive time spent in sedentary behavior is not only having an impact on public health but also has effects on the life span of the individual. Those who maintain a reasonable amount of activity, particularly across the middle and later years, are twice as likely to avoid early death and serious illness. However, it appears that it is never too late to make some changes and experience these positive outcomes. The antidote for these obstacles and their consequences are awareness, focus and determination. So take my advice, get off the couch/chair and seek some enjoyable activity that involves some movement.

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