Health & Fitness
Don't Just Sit There, STAND! Don't Just Stand There, MOVE IT!
Have you heard all the latest media on the dangers of inactivity and sitting? I have, and it's scary! Check out a few tips and reasons to GET MOVING!
Most of us at this point are aware on some cognitive level
of the dangers of too much sitting, and inactivity on the whole.
Reports of the adverse health effects and statistics about shortened
life spans have been hitting the media lately. A recent series of studies in the journal The Lancet cited 1 in every 10 deaths worldwide is due to INACTIVITY! YIKES!! A recent Australian study followed approximately 200,000 adults 45 years and older, and found that those who sat more than 11 hours/day were 40% more likely to die than those who sat less than 4 hours/day. Exercising didn’t help the 11-hour seat-huggers unfortunately.
And it may not be enough to just stand up. As evolutionary luck would have it, we are built for MOVEMENT. Our beginnings are fraught with running from
the saber-toothed tiger, hunting what we could catch, and gathering edible
plants for survival. NOT sitting to furiously type on a small keyboard attached to an artificially lit screen!
The World Health Organization recommends at least 150 minutes per week, of exercise, which breaks down to 21 minutes per day. Pick your favorite ½-hour TV
show; it’s about that long if you cut out the commercials.
Find out what's happening in Western Springsfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
So, what to do? STAND UP, then MOVE! Here are a couple quick tips to get you
started:
1) Create a standing desk and take breaks from it every 30 minutes
2) Go tell a coworker instead of sending an email
3) Take the stairs
4) Park farther away
5) Wear a pedometer and get to 10,000 steps
6) On commercial breaks, do one of the following: 10 pushups, 10 squats, climb stairs, 1 minute
plank
7) Plant a garden
8) Get a dog and walk it
Commit to movement,
and stop the slide into sedentarianism!
Your body and the gene pool at large will thank you.
Find out what's happening in Western Springsfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Sources:
Realage.com
Chakravarty E, Hubert H, Lingala V, et al.
Long distance running and knee osteoarthritis: a prospective study. Am J Prev Med. 2008;35:133-138
Hidde P. van der Ploeg, PhD; Tien Chey, MAppStats; Rosemary J. Korda PhD, et
al. Sitting time and all-cause mortality
risk in 222,497 Australian adults. Arch
intern med. 2012;172(6):494-500
CNN.com
