“Sitting is a Poison” that creates “Negative Health Changes” in our bodies. Physical activities that are dense with “Positive Health Changes” are the antidote.
Our lives, over the last 75 years have lost the inherent day-to-day physical activities that provided “Positive Health Changes”. 75 years ago we had a substantially physical day with short episodes of sitting activities. Today, the exact opposite is true. Most of our day now involves a lot of sitting (which has significant negative health effects) with occasional episodes of physical activity. As opportunities to participate in physical activities that protected us much like an antidote would, have been eliminated, it is becoming increasingly clear that we experience the negative effects to our health from being poisoned.
A sedentary and sitting day is one of the greatest health risks you will encounter in the workplace today. It creates slow and systematic “Negative Health Changes” in your body. Unfortunately, current physical activity guidelines are not enough to protect you from these “Negative Health Changes”.
What are some of the “Negative Health Changes” from Sitting;
1) Strong evidence for increased risk of all-cause and Cardiovascular disease mortality.
This occurred even if exercise is performed daily according to current guidelines for walking and taking a certain number of “steps”.
The problem is perhaps with the guidelines being ineffective and misleading people as the much as the “Harmful Health Changes” of the actual sitting.
Neither “step counting” nor a walking program have the ability to reverse the “Harmful Health Changes” that comes from sitting.
Full Study here: Sedentary behaviors and health outcomes among adults: a systematic review of prospective studies also studied here; Sitting time and all-cause mortality risk in 222 497 Australian adults.
2) There is an increased risk of physical injuries the more you maintain a “loaded” static position
This is where a muscle holds a load and is contracted for a period of time as in holding a shopping bag, or sitting and staring at a screen. As little as a 10% contraction of the muscles will squeeze shut the blood vessels in it, restricting blood flow. This results in the muscles having less oxygen and increased waste product build up which causes irritation and aches and pains.
3)Disks in your back will distort and creep under prolonged loads.
Disks are stiff when rapidly loaded but are “soft” and more likely to creep under sustained compressive loading into perhaps less than optimal position by forces acting on them when sitting in less than optimum posture. They will move much like memory foam will “ooze” when you apply a sustained force yet be stiff and hard when you “punch” it..
Full study here; Intervertebral Disc Tissues
4) Sitting doubles the risk of colon cancer developing and increases ovarian, prostrate, and endometrial cancers.
Full study here; Sedentary behavior and cancer: a systematic review of the literature and proposed biological mechanisms.
5) Lastly, the risk of type 2 diabetes doubles, cardio metabolic diseases increase and premature death rises.
More on the Sitting Poison;
One in three workers spends at least 75% of their time at work sitting, with one study suggesting that, for those sitting more than seven hours a day, there is a 5% increased risk of premature death with each additional hour sitting beyond 7 hours.
Another Australian study also yielded similar results, they found that prolonged sitting is a risk factor for all-cause mortality, independent of physical activity. An important note is that they looked at principally walking, leisure recreation, and household and yard activities. The message is that doing these activities feels good perhaps but is not enough “antidote” to neutralize the effects to your body from being poisoned by sitting!
Less Sitting Poison, Lots of Antidote!
I want to characterize physical activities into two categories “Wellness” (feels good, helps with stress, fun, but does not have much Antidote effect) and “Health Change” (full strength Antidote with lots of effect). The problem is that not all physical activity is able to be the antidote to the “Harmful Health Changes” associated with sitting. You need to engage in activities that have a high “Health Change” component and not just “Wellness”.
The good news is that anything you do that is a physical activity has perhaps some amount of “Health Change ” and a few activities have a lot!.
Examples of “Wellness” activities are;
- – Walk from your car through the parking lot,
- – Walk at lunch or on weekends
- – A relaxing bike ride
- – Jogging
- – Take the Stairs vs. elevator
- – Play catch or Frisbee with your kids
- – Walk the dog
- – Yoga
- – Pilates
- – Group Exercise Classes
All physical activities have a “Wellness” component but some have more of a “Health Change” component than others, it is truly a continuum. Focus your activities on those that have a high “Health Change” component and the “Wellness” piece will be there. This is where you should be spending your time, particularly if your time is limited. Be aware though, that high-density “Health Change” activities require some time for your body to adapt because they do create a substantial metabolic and physiological disturbance to the musculoskeletal and metabolic systems of your body. Also getting good advice on form and a safe progression is helpful to prevent injuries.
Examples of high-density “Health Change” activities are;
- – Appropriate Effortful Strength Training
- – Interval Training
- – Running/Sprinting versus Jogging
Our Soma Science℠ inspired approach is designed to maximize your time invested by using high-density “Health Change” activities. Our clients are successful with our program of two times per week for 60 minutes and after 4-6 weeks, notice substantial changes to their health and wellness.
So the takeaway message is to cut back on uninterrupted sitting, get up and walk around every hour, be active whenever you can and you will minimize the effects of the Sitting Poison. But in a time challenged world to succeed in achieving Whole Health Fitness™, getting regular, consistent, high-density “Health Change” activities completed at least twice per week, that’s the bottom line.
Important for you to know that we have had fantastic success addressing these issues with our “Sitting Antidote Special” program.
Learn more about our “Sitting Antidote Special” program and take advantage of our current promotion!
Stop sitting on your. . . (you know what I mean) and contact us now to get started today!
Be Well,
John Jamesapollos