IS SITTING THE NEW SMOKING?

Let me ask you a question. How many hours did you sit today? How about yesterday?

If you answered more than 4 hours, you need to read on...

Even before the stay-at-home orders and remote working situation, most of us sat for the majority of our day.

You sit in the car, on the way to work. You might sit at work, either at a desk, or at a computer. Then you sit again in the car on the way home, and again when you're relaxing at dinner or in front of the couch. Point is...we sit a lot. That's modern life.

But there's new research published that shows how unhealthy this can be over the long term...

I'm sure you've already heard of this..

Researchers are dubbing sitting as the new smoking. The damage that sitting can inflict on your body and your overall well being is mind boggling to say the least. Here are a few of the effects:

• Sitting can cause a back pain and sciatica.
• Pressure on the disc and nerves and if you are overweight, that pressure increases to 300 percent of normal.
• Decreases lipoprotein Lipase in your body by 95%
• Sitting time correlates with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and other prevalent chronic health problems
• Tight hamstrings, weak abdominal and core muscles leading to lower back pain and disc problems.
• increased risks of disease and premature death

But what to do if you have to sit all day because of your job?

Here are 5 to help Reduce Your Sitting time while still being productive at work...

1. Make sure you get up frequently. At least once every hour make sure you get up from your chair to stretch, march in place or take a quick stroll outside. Research shows that a larger number of breaks in sedentary time are associated with better metabolic profiles, including waist circumference and glucose metabolism. So anytime you are sitting, be sure you are breaking up the sitting time with frequent breaks.

2. Use an exercise ball for a chair or a standing workstation. Unlike sitting in a chair, sitting on an exercise ball engages your core muscles and helps improve balance and flexibility. You'll also burn a few more calories as you keep the ball level than you would otherwise. Standing rather than sitting can also be a helpful option.

3. Stay active throughout the work day. Walk around, pump out a couple minutes of squatting, do some stretching. Break up your sitting and avoid long stretches of unmitigated motionlessness.

4. Stand when you can. Whenever possible, do your work standing instead of sitting. For instance, try putting your laptop on a high counter that you can access while standing, walk around your office while you're on the phone, and communicate with your coworkers in person instead of sending an email.

5. Cut back on your TV, video game and computer time at home. Make your leisure time as active as possible, as much as possible. Instead of lounging on the couch in the evening, play a game of hide-and-go-seek with your kids, take a yoga class, spend time cooking in the kitchen, or go for a walk around your neighborhood.

Challenge yourself to stay as active as possible even during your non-exercise hours to reach your highest level of health. you are going to need at least 60- 75 minutes of exercise for every 4 hours of sitting.