1. Do you sit in-front of a computer for 10-12 hours daily ?
2. Do you work seated for more than 56 hours a week ?
3. Do you think sitting job can cause only back pain ?
4. Do you think your lifestyle is sedentary ?
5. Are you aware of sedentary physiology ?
If you don't have answers for these questions continue reading…Sitting job and a sedentary lifestyle lead to many other health complications like heart disease, diabetes and depression. Many researches are in progress to know more about the health effects of an inactive lifestyle, it is called sedentary physiology.
I know you must be grumbling that many people have been working this way for many years and have not faced much problems as I said. You just cannot compare the lifestyle of the last generation with ours. The innovations have made our lives more inactive, it delivers any product at our door steps thus prohibiting us from walking around the shops and the ready made foods reducing our effort in cooking, and the best part is we can "hang out" with our friends through internet, without stepping out of our home.
These are the possible effects of a sedentary lifestyle
- Heart Attack
When you sit in a position for a long time, there is no activity which effects the blood circulation in your body. Your heart needs some physical activity like moving around once in a few hours to maintain a proper circulation. Sitting down does not help your heart pump blood effectively. This is the main reason for a cardiac arrest. More the sedentary higher the risk of getting a cardiac arrest and the chance for men is 58 % and for a women is 25% higher.
Aerobic exercises like walking, swimming, jogging or any exercise which involves movement of bigger muscle groups can improve your heart's health.
- Metabolic risk
Sitting for longer causes your body's metabolism to slow down. Legs are part of the bigger muscles group in our body, when not moved for a long time can slow down the calorie burn up by 50 percent. Also, it could suppress the fat burning enzyme secreted in our body, which burns triglycerides(a type of fat) which is associated with heart diseases.
- Blood sugar
The blood sugar gets a spike after your meal, which is mostly stored as energy in younger people, but these days even the younger generations are effected by diabetes. This might be due to genetics in most cases, but even the blood sugar level spike can increase your chances of getting type-2 diabetes especially if you have an inactive lifestyle.
15 mins post meal, take a walk for 10-15 mins. This will help reduce the spike in blood sugar.
- Depression
People who live a sedentary life are susceptible to depression. The chances are twice for them compared to the people who are physically active.
- Flabby muscles
We always accuse our eating habit for the flabby muscles in our body. The most commonly effected area is our belly, we are being ignorant of the fact that the continuous inactivity is the main reason. Getting your muscles toned needs a lot of effort, whereas losing the tone doesn't take any effort at all. Try to get your muscles toned and maintain it.
Even though you workout vigourosly at the gym, it cannot counter attack the effects of a sedentary lifestyle. Because the physical activity takes place either before or after a long duration of inactivity. Is there a solution for all these problems? yes, you can avoid these health complications by following these simple steps
Do a 30 mins session of brisk walk daily, at least 5 times a week
Do not sit and stare the computer screen for hours together, move around for sometime
Do not use mails or messengers to communicate with people who sits at a walk- able distance within your office, instead meet them at their desks
15 minutes after a meal, try to walk around for 10-15 minutes.