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The Dangers of a Sedentary Lifestyle & How to Overcome It
Movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUEl8KrMz14#t=159
Wake up. Get ready for work. Sit in the car during traffic for 45 minutes. Arriv
e at work. Sit at desk, check emails and do some work. Move to conference room a
nd yawn your way through an hour-long meeting. Order lunch from your computer wi
thout getting up. Lunch arrives. Eat at your desk while simultaneously browsing
the Internet and preparing that memo. Sit for another few hours.
Get back in the car. Drive half hour to the gym. Spend an hour working out. Driv
e home. Prepare dinner. Grab a snack and sit on the couch to catch up on your fa
vorite series. Head to bed. Repeat.
It s startling to discover that Americans spend 93 percent of our lifetimes indoor
s and 70 percent of each day sitting. (1, 2) But when you reflect on the average
day for most people, it s just as startling how accurate it is and how sedentary
our lifestyles have become.
While it
k around
ffect on
ssed and
might feel more comfortable to kick back in an armchair than take a wal
the neighborhood, living a sedentary lifestyle has a direct, negative e
our health and wellness. It s why we re seemingly always tired, always stre
always struggling to lose weight as a society.
Netflix and ch
That s why exercise is one of the best natural treatments for diabetes, while a la
ck of physical activity is one of the leading causes for developing diabetes.
3. Reduced Circulation
Remaining stationary for too long slows blood circulation to the legs, which can
lead to swollen ankles, blood clots, swelling and pain. At the scarier end is d
eep vein thrombosis, when a blood clot forms in your legs. The clot can eventual
ly break free and obstruct other parts of your body, including your lungs. (6)
4. Fuzzy Thinking
Ironically, sitting down to work can actually lead to trouble concentrating. Whe
n we re not moving, there s less blood being pumped throughout our bodies, including
our brains. This slows down our cognitive functions and leads to brain fog. (7)
5. Loss of Muscle and Bone Strength
Forget flexing: We need our bodies to maintain lean muscle tissue so we can perf
orm our daily tasks without hurting or taxing our bodies. With a sedentary lifes
tyle, that all changes. Ordinary events, like grocery shopping or picking things
up, become much more difficult. This becomes especially important in older adul
ts, who are already losing muscle mass and bone strength. (8)
The kicker with our sedentary lifestyles is that even if you exercise regularly,
it might not be enough to combat all those hours you spend sitting at work or i
n the car. A review in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute analyzed 43
studies, totaling about 4 million people, that dealt with people s sitting behavio
r and their incidences of cancer.
Researchers found that adjusting for physical activity didn t budge the link betwe
en a sedentary lifestyle and cancer. We spend so much time not moving that even
those 30 minutes at the gym aren t enough to counteract all those hours at our des
ks. (9)
Are you standing yet? The good news is that you can prevent the effects of a sed
entary lifestyle, even if you do work in an office environment and none of them
include exercising more.
The dangers of a sedentary lifestyle - Dr. Axe
How to Not Be a Couch Potato and Get Moving
1. Set an Alarm
Use your smartphone for good, not evil. Set an alarm to remind you to get up
move, ideally about five to eight times throughout your workday. Whether it
ply getting up and stretching, working on your feet for 10 minutes, taking a
k around the office, or going for a quick stroll outside, it ll do your body
and
s sim
wal
good.