Emma Lawson reflects on how sitting may be doing us in.
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The average amount of time we sit during the day is 9.3. hours, while the average amount of time we sleep at night is 7.7. hours. That means we spend longer time sitting than sleeping and our bodies don’t get the chance to fully wake up and feel alive even during the day.
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Up until our time, people used to spend their time involved in some physical activity outside and they would sit in the house only in the evenings when all the work was done. Things have completely changed in modern times with the advent of TV, computers, cars and office jobs. People are now forced to sit during most of the day just because the society functions like that. However, our souls are still the same bodies our ancestors had and they are not made for long periods of sitting. That is why sitting is being called the new smoking and here are some hard facts to prove it.
- We lead lives of inactivity
The average amount of time we sit during the day is 9.3. hours, while the average amount of time we sleep at night is 7.7. hours. That means we spend longer time sitting than sleeping and our bodies don’t get the chance to fully wake up and feel alive even during the day. If we have a desk job, we are usually too tired in the evening for any kind of intense physical activity which leaves us with the weekends. However, on the weekends, we just want to be lazy around the house since our bodies are not accustomed to movement. When we add it all up, we are left with 7 hours a day to be physically active, but most of us don’t use them.
- Sitting is harmful
Accepting the fact that sitting can significantly lower our life expectancy is crucial in taking steps to improve our situation.
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Saying that our bodies are not made for sitting can be backed up by many facts. First and foremost, sitting wrecks our spine as most people sit leaning forward instead of leaning backward which would ease the pressure up. Our necks and our shoulders hurt as well yet people rarely take useful calcium supplements to help their bones remain strong. We usually sit with our legs crossed and blood flow to the legs is blocked even further. Our circulation slows down, our metabolism becomes sluggish, our brain becomes slow and our heart weakens since it simply does not need to pump much blood. Our muscles shrink and shrivel up and we end up with weak atrophied bodies that don’t function well. It is a shocking fact, but sitting increases the risk of dying by huge 40%.
- Getting up is hard but necessary
Accepting the fact that sitting can significantly lower our life expectancy is crucial in taking steps to improve our situation. We usually have to sit at our desks at work, but we can still make the effort to get up as many times as we can, to get coffee, to throw the trash out, to check our “vibe” in the restroom or for any other reason we can think of.
There are office yoga exercises you can learn and stretch as many times during the working day as you can remember. You can always do some simple stretching and warm up exercises to improve your circulation and increase your heart rate so you’d get more oxygen to your brain. A short brisk walk outside will also do wonders. In your free time, you should take 45 minute long fast walks at least three times a week, preferably in the nature. You can cycle, go swimming, jog, skate, go to a dancing class or take up a sport.
Guys, sitting does not need to do you in. With a few simple changes, you can improve your circulation, your outlook and your health. Minimizing long periods of sitting, uninterrupted time on the computer or on social media by moving around can literally be a life saver.
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Photos: Getty Images and Pixabay