Or so the New York Times is telling me. There is a whole campaign out now against sitting. Brooks, the shoe company, even started a movement! But what does this mean? And how am I supposed to NOT sit as a computer dominates my workday?
A study by the National Institute of Health has the average adult sitting for eight hours a day. Sitting all day causes a greater risk of high blood pressure, inflammation, elevated blood sugar, and a lot of other negative health issues. The best part? THE BEST PART? Is that it doesn’t matter how much exercise you do, you cannot negate the effects of sitting for these long hours.
Proof: UT Austin performed a study on 200 participants recruited from the Austin Marathon and Half-Marathon to show that running (up to 7 sweaty hours per week) doesn’t offset the amount of time you are sitting and inactive during the day.
Some Aussie study also said that for every hour we sit watching television, we are shaving approximately 22 minutes off our lives. Do the math… that’s YEARS sooner that I’ll die because I watch my shows from 8-11 pm (c’mon it’s tradition). With that said, I breathe a sigh of relief that I often try to stretch and do abs at commercials.
If you need more information and you like looking at pictures, I recommend this infographic from Mashable (in 2011):
http://mashable.com/2011/05/09/sitting-down-infographic/
Running obviously has a lot of pro’s- you’re burning fat, you’re increasing energy, it helps prevent diabetes and heart disease (yes, I realize this is contradictory from an earlier statement, so between running and sitting, I don’t actually know where I stand). There are several apps (and even activity trackers like FitBit and UP) that will alert you when you’ve been sedentary for an hour to remind you to take a lap around the office.
My computer just beeped. Time to walk to the office kitchen to get out of my seat! After reading this information, are there any changes you’re going to make to your daily office routine?
It's not you, it's New York 