Things You Didn't Know About Sitting For A Prolonged Period Of Time

If people are asked to choose between working from home and actually going to an office to work, a lot of people would choose working from home and they would go ahead to back up their choice with reasons. Well, what if I said that many people have taken "working from home" to the extreme? They spend hours sitting and staring at their mobile devices and the only breaks they get are a toilet break or a coffee break where they most likely sit also.

What is the Sitting Disease

Sitting disease is a term coined by the science community and is commonly used when referring to the bad effects of an overly sedentary lifestyle.

My love for sitting down ended during the early hours of today as research shows that an average human is sedentary for 21 hours a day. Leaving them with only three hours of standing; including physical activities and exercise. Many people know that living a sedentary life is bad but do they know the dangers involved in living a sedentary life?

Living a sedentary life is associated with "adverse" health effects and reduced longevity

So next time when you're wondering why your harmless neighbour who just stayed indoors all day passed away, he probably sat his way to death.

Source

Some people may want to argue the fact that their jobs require them to sit all day.

"It's no news that working on feet increases productivity."

Technology has become an accepted part of our lives. We have to stare at screens and sit for extended periods of time but there's a way to do this without implicating your health. This is where the 30:10:30 rule comes to play.

For every 30 minutes you work, take 10 minutes before you go back to work for another 30 minutes. During the 10 minute break one has to stand for some time and also stretch for sometime; you can decide how long you want to stand for and how long you want to stretch for.

Even an active person who works out 5 times a week could can be a victim of the sitting disease

This applies when a person works out actively but goes ahead to sit down for hours. You'd be surprised what standing for just 2 minutes can do for your health. When a person stands, all the muscles are put to work in a bid to keep the person balanced but on the flip side, when the muscles aren't put into active use, they start to sag.

Image by Towfiqu barbhuiya

Diseases Associated with Sedentary Lifestyle

The list of the diseases associated with a sedentary lifestyle is very lengthy. You could get diseases you never imagined just by sitting down for long hours. Some of them include:

• Obesity
• High blood pressure
• Stroke
• Metabolic syndrome
• Type 2 diabetes
• Cancer(colon,breast, endometrial,uterine, etc)
• Depression and anxiety
• High cholesterol
• Heart disease
• Leg disorder

Like I said, the list is a lengthy one. In summary, sitting a lot is asking for trouble, irrespective of who you are. Remember, for every two hours spent sitting, approximately 325 calories are conserved in your adipose tissues so the ball is in your court. Would you sit for 21 hours straight or you'd decide to take 10 minute breaks every half an hour.

^{This is my first official post in this community and I'm open to corrections}

With love, wongi ✨