Sitting too long is harmful to your body, let’s find out what the facts say why it is so harmful? Studies have shown that people who, on average, watched the most TV over 8.5 years had a 61% higher risk of dying prematurely.
Today we live in a world where modern machines and innovative technical aids do most of our work for us.
Technology itself largely eliminates the need for manual labor. And if we know that almost 1/5 of the workers worldwide have office work.
Office work is what forces people to sit for eight or more hours a day.
According to a report published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the average person spends more than half the time waking up inactive (sitting in front of a computer, watching TV, traveling to and from work, etc.)
Although technology has obvious advantages, such as doing more things in less time, saving more resources, connecting with other people quickly and easily, it also has many disadvantages.
Sitting for long periods of time can cause health problems.
Above all, problems such as chronic back pain, poor posture, and even potentially deadly diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.
How sitting for too long affects our health
If you spend a lot of time sitting while doing your work responsibilities, look at how it can negatively affect your health.
1. Problems with the brain, neck, and shoulders from too much sitting
When we move, more blood and oxygen circulate through the brain, which helps us maintain awareness and clarity of our mind.
Sitting for long periods of time slows down the flow of oxygen and blood to the brain.
All of this results in a decrease in our ability to think clearly.
The neck, especially the cervical vertebrae, which connect the spine to the head are under enormous pressure at work, while hunched over we stare at the computer screen.
Poor posture, such as a bent posture over the keyboard, over-stretches the muscles of the back and shoulders over long periods of time, causing damage.
2. Too much sitting causes back problems
One of the most common problems for most people is back pain.
A factor that greatly contributes to back pain, spines, as well as damage to the vertebrae and discs of the spine, is poor posture.
The movement allows the soft discs between the vertebrae in the spine to expand and contract.
They allow the blood and nutrients to enter them and feed them.
While sitting for a long time, the discs become uneven and compact, even causing collagen to build up around tendons and ligaments.
Disc herniation is also more common in people who spend a lot of time in front of a computer.
3. Muscle degeneration as a result of sitting
Sitting does not cause the use of your abdominal muscles.
And if they sit unused for too long, it can cause a condition called lordosis or unnatural over-stretching of the natural arch of the spine.
Plus, sitting too long reduces overall flexibility, especially in the hips and back.
Flexible hips help to balance the body much better.
However, when sitting for too long, the groin muscles become short and tense.
Eventually, the buttock muscles become soft and relaxed after prolonged periods of inactivity.
Which reduces your ability to take long steps and maintain body stability.
read more: 12 Reasons Why You Should Ride a Bicycle
4. Too much sitting is harmful to your body organs
Sitting for long periods of time can cause heart disease, cardiovascular disease, and colon cancer.
In short, these problems are caused by the overproduction of insulin in the body due to inactivity and poor blood flow to the organs.
Regular exercise increases the number of antioxidants, which in turn help remove cancer cells.
Insulin overproduction also causes weight gain, which contributes to diabetes and obesity.
5. Too much sitting is not good for the feet
It is obvious that sitting for too long impedes circulation in the legs. This causes blood to be retained around the ankles.
This in turn results in swollen joints, varicose veins, and even harmful blood clots.
Another subtle problem caused by prolonged sitting is that the bones become weaker and less dense.
Regular activity, such as running or walking, helps keep bones strong.
The fact that we are increasingly becoming a sedentary society may explain why so many older people suffer from osteoporosis.
According to the study, people who watched the most TV on average for 8.5 years had a 61% higher risk of dying prematurely than those who watched less than an hour a day.
So how do we fight this inactivity?
First, if you are forced to sit for long periods of work or for other purposes, you need to make sure you sit up straight.
Also at all costs to avoid lying on the desk or bending or squatting over the keyboard.
A good way to keep your back straight is to sit on an exercise ball instead of a classic office chair.
This way you force your abdominal muscles to work overtime, thus keeping your body upright.
If this is too difficult, you can try sitting on a chair without a back, as a slightly more stable variant of the exercise ball.
You should try to get up from a sitting position regularly and stretch.
How often should you do this?
At least once every thirty minutes, experts say. Get up and walk around your office for a few minutes.
This will allow the blood to constantly flow in your body and allow your brain and muscles to function optimally.
Yoga or some other stretching exercises can help maintain muscle flexibility.
At the same time, they certainly help to relax the mind and thus reduce the pressure of the working day.
Standing desks have become more popular lately.
If you get such a standing table, standing will make you do your job in an upright position.
This helps blood and oxygen to flow freely throughout the body, thus reducing the risk of blood clots and other dangerous health problems.
