Risk of Disease Increased When You Rest on Your Butt

It may seem fairly obvious but if you don't stand up and walk around a bit, you may be setting yourself up to be more prone to some common maladies.

Sitting May Increase Risk Of Disease


The consequences of this study is quite staggering. Most people work a desk job so sitting down is par for the course. Perhaps this might explain why in the more developed countries instances of the diseases listed in the article are becoming more common.

Well, that's it. I'm off for a walk.
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Minor alteration to title for posterior's... erm, posterity's sake

[edit on 28/11/07 by masqua]

I do believe this to be true. Simply from being laid off for six weeks from an active job where I was on my feet all day to not working has created a lazy monster in me.

I don't want to stand around, I love to sit!!! But I do feel stiffer and more tired since my activity level has dropped.

I suppose I will be off for that walk, too.

I wonder if laying down has the same effect, considering we spend at least 1/3 of our lives doing it. Why is it only sitting?

reply to post by watch_the_rocks



Gawd I hope not.
I was laid up for 6 months after cracking my spine.
Weird thing is.. I seemed to keep my upper body strength.. Just my ass got bigger.. Hmmm ..evolution at work?

Originally posted by watch_the_rocks
I wonder if laying down has the same effect, considering we spend at least 1/3 of our lives doing it. Why is it only sitting?

The 1/3 of the time spent lying down is a necessary part of life. It's when you recharge. The article focuses on sitting because society, specifically in developed nations spend more time sitting. Think about it, if you're reading this, then it is likely you're sitting in front of a screen. If you're at work and you work at an office, you're also likely to be sitting at a desk. Then when you go back home, you'll be sitting in front of the idiot box or in front of the computer monitor again.

Sit, sit, sit, sit, sit. Muscles atrophied and carbohydrates left unburned.

The question that intrigues me is -- what if you sit, but you also fidget a lot or tap your feet rapidly throughout? Will that be better?

Just in reading this post, I can feel my arse getting bigger.

I agree with what the article states, my doctor advised the same practice of getting up an walking around if you are sitting at a desk most of the day. This prescription was in relation to a back problem I was having and it is supposed to do exactly that, work the muscles a bit so more problems don't occur.

Of course, walking to the fridge to get something to eat, kind of defeats the purpose.

After a long day at work, with good intentions of going for a walk, I just can't find the energy to do it. Much easier to laze around and do nothing.

[ insert procrastination phrase here ]

I figured instead of creating a new thread, I'd post this news article here and give this thread a bump, since the article seems to complement the original post just nice.

Review: Walk and Work Simultaneously



Brilliant!

There have been a bunch of threads about this but don't knock it.

I've tried standing up at my PC instead of sitting and after about 20 minutes I actually had a very light sweat going. Though I used some boxes and things to make it kind of ergonomic, I think I was still having to use more energy than if you had a perfectly constructed desk and keyboard. However, be that as it may, it must have easily been about 100 calories per hour. Multiply that by an 8 hour day and you've got as many calories expended as a 90 minute bike ride at 15-17 mph.

From my calculator:
"Standing, writing, answering phone, moving things around 113 cal/hr"

Of course if you subtract sitting, writing, then it's only about half that. Casual movement where your breathing is at rest, though is different than standing and developing a light sweat.

So, factoring it in parsimoniously:

60 cals/hr x 7 hrs is 420 cals/day x 5 days a week = 2040 cals/week = ~1lb lost every 1.5-2.0 work weeks. If you continue using a standing station at home, it will be 800 calories more for Sat and Sun.

(1lb of fat=3500 calories).

Obviously this is extremely optimistic, so we'll cut that in half and say 'weight gain would be slowed by approximately one pound every three weeks if you stood up to do your desk work versus sitting down'. Even conservatively that's about 14lbs/year.

It's certainly enough to counter the 5-10lbs/year weight gain you get just because you've hit middle age.

Originally posted by interestedalways

I don't want to stand around, I love to sit!!!

And you shouldn't just "stand around". That is actually much worse then sitting; standing more or less still is a terrible strain on the veins and the circulatory system, thereby increasing the possibility of a stroke, among other things.
(Just look up the statistics for waiters / waitresses, hairdressers and such. They have more circulatory diseases than any other group.)

Or just remember the last time you went to a large art exhibition, for example... Unless there were (free) benches to sit, I bet you came out with your feet hurting and a feeling of "heavy" legs, regardless of your age.

So, there is a very good reason why "standing around" is so unpopular. It just seems that this particular group of scientists hasn't quite gotten there yet...