How Dangerous Is Sitting All Day?

how dangerous is it for you to sit around all day every day we know that this one may hit particularly close to home Rainier as well we suddenly as a nation are all working from home and it looks like we will be for quite some time while there are a few pluses to this I mean now you don't have to change out of your PJs in the morning it also means that we are doing a lot less walking and standing and well just movement in general but can this sudden change from all that normal everyday movement you know walking to the bus going up flights of stairs to your office walking around on your lunch break - well just sitting in your room in front of your computer playing Minecraft all day be detrimental to your health even deadly we are finding out so stand up stretch out man and get ready for the scoop on all the dangers of too much sitting today people sit more than ever there's no other way to put it according to a study conducted in 2016 American adolescents are sitting more than any other demographic with a direct correlation between time sitting and phone TV and computer usage in fact in the decade before 2016 adolescents increased their time sitting throughout the day from 7 to 8 hours pulled on their adults you're not off the hook either this same study showed that adults also increase their time sitting by an hour they increased from five hours to six hours City you may think that this is normal and maybe even not that bad for you after all most jobs require you to sit whether you're in insurance or a secretary or a CEO or if you sell crepes from home over the internet being stationary is part of the job and now that we're working from home forget about it you're now plopped down in front of the computer all day but what does this do to our daily burning of calories does it really affect us that much we bet you didn't realize it but throughout your day the average person does quite a bit of physical activity and it's usually just within that usual routine of getting to work if you're in New York City you know what we're talking about the 86th Street Station on the Q line walking up from the train to the street yeah that's the equivalent of eight flights of stairs looks like all you New Yorkers don't have to feel as guilty when you skip cardio at the gym huh but this is just one example of the exercise we are naturally getting throughout our day and don't even realize it this sort of subconscious exercise is known as non-exercise activity thermogenesis also known as meat for short this refers to all the walking typing picking up boxes stacking things on shelves carrying briefcases and just about anything that you can think of that you do during your day that burns calories the higher your neat the more you are active and in theory the better you'll feel see exercise is really really good for you yes it can be a pain to set aside 30 minutes to an hour a day to get all sweaty and sore but the health benefits are astronomical and undeniable exercise is proven to give you energy improve your mental well-being help you sleep better be more relaxed and even help with anxiety depression ADHD and more in fact author John Ratey wrote a book called spark where he details an experiment done at Naperville high school one group of students were asked to partake in a morning gym class while another group of students were allowed to sleep in the study found that as the week's went on the students had exercised found higher levels of energy and higher test scores this active group had a 17% increase in reading and comprehension compared to the sleepy group who had a 10 point 7 percent increase the study showed in essence that exercise works not only your body but your brain I mean the list of benefits just goes on and on and on and if you're sitting you aren't exercising and there can be some pretty dire consequences which brings us to the first reason you should keep a close eye on how much you're sitting brainerd especially now that you're working from home inevitably your bodies and meat levels will drop due to being indoors this means that the first symptoms you would feel are weight gain feelings of anxiety and even trouble sleeping sitting and sitting and sitting just ain't good for you but it doesn't stop there in the scheme of things these are rather mild symptoms compared to what happens if you keep sitting all day every day let's break it down further continuously being sedentary in front of a screen is absolutely terrible for your lower body and back no surprise here right the more you sit the more your hip flexor muscles will start to shorten and when that happens it will directly lead to problems with your hip joints poor posture is another thing to watch out for as it's very easy to slouch in front of a screen especially if you don't have a chair designed to help you keep that back straight the slouching can cause compressions in the discs of your back which in turn can lead to premature degeneration it's serious stuff and this is just the beginning if you aren't scared by the idea of becoming a slouch there's a few other physical side-effects of plopping down all day that you should definitely be aware of DVT or deep vein thrombosis is when tiny blood clots occur in your legs symptoms can include redness swelling and general pain in the area but you also may display no symptoms what's particularly important to note about DVT is that it can become quite serious quite quickly if the clot breaks free from your legs and gets lodged in your lung when this happens it's called a pulmonary embolism studies also link an increased chance of developing lung uterine and colon cancers to an extremely sedentary lifestyle this statistic is particularly troublesome because doctors don't actually know why it is they just know that it happens now you do to Brainerd diabetes is another thing to watch out for if you are continuously sitting and it can happen quicker than you might think in as soon as five days after not moving exercising and just being a slouch at home your blood Sugar's will increase to a level that isn't healthy this is called insulin resistance and studies have shown that frequent sitters have a 112 percent increased risk of diabetes but it doesn't stop there heart disease is probably the biggest reason to remember to stand up get outside and walk around throughout your day researchers have found that men who spend five or more hours of their day sitting have a 34 percent increased chance of having heart failure in their lives compared to men who sat less than two hours outside of their normal work lives another study showed that women who sat more than 10 hours a day were at a much higher risk of stroke heart disease or heart attack when compared to women who only sat five hours a day oh and here's the real kicker sitting too much can be a particularly tricky thing to keep an eye on because you can be quite active at the gym for a few hours and thus you may feel like you're living an active healthy lifestyle but if you're sitting eight hours a day we'll compare that with your one hour at the gym you my friend are still putting your body at quite a bit of risk this phenomenon is called an active couch potato you may be putting in the reps at the gym but if you're sedentary all day you're still at risk other statistics to keep in mind if you fall into this active couch potato group is that you have an increased 50% chance of death by any cause and about a 125 percent increased risk of any type of cardiovascular disease you've got to get up and walk around Brainerd sitting that much really is that bad for you but everything is not doom and gloom look yes sometimes by the very nature of your job you'll just be sitting a lot it's unavoidable or is it countering all this sitting can be as simple as incorporating movement into your daily life biking or walking to work is a great way to start your day with a lot of activity but if you take the bus getting off one stop early and then walking the rest of the way we'll get a few more steps in for you especially if you're about to sit at your job all day at work simply using your lunch break as a chance to get out and stretch your legs organizing meetings as a walk and talk instead of sitting down in a conference room or walking over to colleagues to ask them a question instead of just emailing them or all small ways to up your neat and keep you active in fact even just a quick stroll around your workspace can offset all the dangers of being too stationary it's recommended that's setting a timer every thirty minutes to get up and just move even just for a little bit can help immensely and keeping you healthy but how about this working from home thing how can we stay active here luckily we live in the age of the Internet and there are a ton of free classes you can take from yoga to home aerobics to stationary biking to dancing to all of it all online take care of yourself and if anything just stand up every once in a while if you are about to watch your favorite TV show watch it standing folding laundry stand up to do it just get off that tuchus brainer and you'll be fine so that's the truth of sitting too much it's a dangerous life shortening routine to be in but simply setting reminders to get up get out and also get active are your best line of defense especially if you're working from home don't let the lazy's set in keep up that active lifestyle and you'll be much healthier and happier because of it [Music]

Channel: Brainiac

Views: 94,095

Rating: 4.8798151 out of 5

Keywords: Brainiac, sitting, sedentary, work from home, anxiety, depression, dangerous, social distancing, go for a walk, exercise

Id: 4m06t1UHPZg

Length: 10min 55sec (655 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 16 2020