Influence of a sedentary lifestyle. Sedentary lifestyle - what happens to our body. Nutrition for an inactive lifestyle

Currently developing at breakneck speed technical progress. First of all, the achievements of science and technology are designed to simplify human life. But at the same time, the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle became very noticeable. Now it is rare to see actively moving teenagers or children, they most spend time at the computer. Most working people understand relaxation as sitting in front of the TV or lying passively on the couch. A healthy mobile lifestyle is being replaced by a passive pastime.

Rapidly developing progress frees a person from physical activity, gradually changes his appearance, and not in better side. Everywhere you can see stooped backs, excess weight, spoiled vision, lethargy of movements, detached look. There has been a significant increase in the number chronic diseases, which have recently affected predominantly the elderly. These phenomena are the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle. modern man.

Diseases of the musculoskeletal system

The most common diseases of our time are diseases musculoskeletal system. Curvature of the spine, or scoliosis, and subsequently osteochondrosis, constantly haunt a sedentary person. The consequence of such diseases are constant aching pain, limitation motor ability spine, recurrent pain in the arms or legs.

A significant decrease in physical activity leads to the leaching of the necessary calcium from the bones, which is a provoking factor that causes numerous fractures. Human muscles significantly decrease in volume, weakens ligamentous apparatus, therefore, dislocations of limbs, sprains of ligaments are very common today.

The consequences of a sedentary lifestyle undoubtedly affect the human joints. They practically stop working in the proper mode, become inflamed, and in fact recently such problems arose exclusively among people of advanced age.

Diseases of the heart and blood vessels

It's amazing how younger diseases have become of cardio-vascular system. The human heart without the necessary load loses strength, endurance. Even minor efforts, for example, a quick short run, force the heart muscle to work at maximum load. The heart just "pops" out of the chest. An untrained heart begins to contract very quickly. Tachycardia occurs, which is extremely dangerous for the development of arrhythmia, and subsequently the occurrence dangerous disease- myocardial infarction. Jumping is also a consequence of a sedentary lifestyle. blood pressure. At high pressure increases the risk of an extremely dangerous disease - a stroke.

A sedentary lifestyle contributes to stagnation venous blood in the pelvis, which leads to an increase hemorrhoids and development unpleasant illness- hemorrhoids. In addition, diseases such as varicose veins veins. Inactivity is dangerous by slowing down blood circulation, which invariably leads to the formation of blood clots, which can easily clog the vital blood vessel in the heart, lungs, brain.

Overweight

Another undoubted danger to human health caused by the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle is the appearance overweight. Excessively enlarged body fat extremely negative impact on the human body. fat cells in their essence, they are “freeloaders”, drawing on themselves a significant part of the oxygen necessary for normal human life. They take away useful material coming with food, giving nothing in return.

Other diseases

All these adverse factors subsequently lead to heart failure, arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, other vital dangerous violations health of modern man. A sedentary lifestyle is a regular disruption of work gastrointestinal tract constipation, decreased vision, chronic ischemia, male impotence, connective tissue hypertrophy, flat feet.

Hypodynamia and psychological state

All of the above diseases can be tried to overcome with the help of drugs, but the joy in life medical preparations cannot create. This must be done by yourself. In the process active movement serotonin is produced - the hormone of joy. This helps to maintain a positive mood background, which directly affects the strengthening of immunity. A dynamic life also implies active social contacts, which protects against loneliness, feelings of uselessness and abandonment, and as a result, the development of depression (even with suicidal tendencies). Active social relations are friendship, love, communication, care for nature, loved ones or strangers all of which give meaning to our existence. Own activity gives joy, brings a sense of fulfillment, improves the quality of life. Which most directly affects the improvement of health and prolongs life.

Perhaps it is time to seriously think about the future, to stop living only with the daily natural needs of the body. We need to help him get better. It is necessary to give the body the initial, at least minimum load so as not to regret the lost time when a vital dangerous ailments when nothing can be changed. Life is fleeting, do not shorten it with your unreasonable behavior. Take care of your health!

Well, are you sitting quietly, not touching anyone and getting ready to enjoy this article? But in vain! After all, it is about the fact that sitting is actually terribly harmful. Even if you went to the gym before!

Over the past 70 years, humanity has been actively changing, and now, in order to survive, we do not have to get up early to dig a garden, bring water, chop firewood and go plowing with a sense of accomplishment. Now we can just sit in the office, driving a car, or even at home at the computer, so that the money in the account is enough for bread, a case of beer and a vacation in Turkey. However, for all this apparent ease of being, we have to pay with our own health.

You can probably guess what we are getting at: because of office life, we all sorely lack physical activity, so natural when you have to get food, and not order it ready by phone. It is obvious to everyone that active image improves the quality of life and reduces the risk of death and disease. But even if we believe that we fully satisfy the needs of the body in movement, because we not only bought a subscription to a fitness club, but also spend an hour there every day (although who are we kidding?), we move all the remaining 15-16 hours of wakefulness little - mostly sit. Here the question arises: does it matter how we spend most of our day? Is it important, for example, that we are sitting all this time and not walking or at least standing? Alas, latest research suggest that this is indeed very, very important. A sedentary lifestyle significantly reduces life expectancy!

Get up, great country!

Before ordering a shroud and starting to crawl into a cemetery, it is important to define the term " sedentary image life." A passive or sedentary state is one in which we expend extremely little energy (defined as less than 1.4 metabolic equivalents, that is, less than half of what your body spends without your intervention on breathing, digestion, blinking, etc.). Energy expenditure is reduced to 1.5 metabolic equivalents once your body moves into a sitting or lying position. There are some notable exceptions when one can manage to sit actively - for example, exercising on a stationary bike or lying on a bench under a barbell - but they are very, very few. Thus, if most of your day is spent in a state of inactivity, you lead a sedentary lifestyle.

All this seems obvious, but most specialists in physical education and sports, until recently, gave a slightly different definition of a passive lifestyle. It was believed that if you play sports for at least 60 minutes every day, you lead an active lifestyle; if you spend 50 minutes a day or miss Sundays, you are already sedentary. However, recent research shows that your health is directly related to the amount of time spent in a passive state, regardless of whether you did exercises today or not. “Sitting too much is not the same as exercising too little,” says American researcher Mark Hamilton.

Now that we know what a sedentary lifestyle is, let's sit down on the path and move on.

Figures and facts

In 2009, Dr. Peter Katzmierzek and his colleagues at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center (USA) published important research, which correlated a passive lifestyle and mortality on the example of 17 thousand Canadians. As expected, among people leading a predominantly sedentary lifestyle, there was an increase in overall mortality, as well as mortality from cardiovascular disease. In fairness, it should be added that the likelihood of dying from cancer, for example, turned out to be in no way related to the amount of passive time spent. However, the most interesting thing is that the statistics confirmed that a predominantly sedentary lifestyle reduces life expectancy, regardless of the individual's physical activity at other times. If you look at the numbers, those who sat most of the day were 50% more likely to die in the near future compared to the most "restless". Moreover, both control groups had approximately the same average age, weight, level of alcohol consumption and level of general physical activity.

Dr. Katzmierzek's research is far from the only one. For example, statistics recently came from Australia that correlate mortality and the amount of time a person spends watching TV (the indisputable equivalent of a passive state). Drs. Dunstan, Barr and Healey followed a group of 8800 people for six years and recorded 284 deaths. In the end, it was concluded that for every extra hour that Australians spend watching television, their risk of dying increases by 11% (averaging age, gender and waist circumference). However, Australian doctors did not stop at simple measurements of time: they asked 168 study participants aged 30 to 80 to wear accelerometers (devices that record body movements) while awake. As a result, Australian scientists were able to accurately measure the time that each study participant spent at rest. The value of this data is that the smallest movements were taken into account, and not just moments of conscious physical activity like playing sports or brisk walking. So, Dr. Dunstan and company found that the more often a person interrupts the passive state with even the most insignificant actions (like going to the toilet or standing with a cigarette), the lower their waist circumference, body mass index, and also lipid spectrum blood and glucose tolerance! And this dependence can be traced even when the more assiduous participants in the study in the overall standings move as much as their restless comrades, they just do it irregularly. That is, moving more often, albeit not very actively, is much more useful than less often, but more actively!

Another study from medical journal PLOS Medicine confirms that a sedentary lifestyle and lack of physical activity should be considered as two different factors risk to your health. European scientists analyzed the time that children and young people from three regions of Europe spend watching TV (that is, in a passive state), and also spend on sports training. In the end, it turned out that not sitting in front of the TV for hours, but not exercising at the same time, is almost as useful as doing both. Here we come to the main message of this article, which we would like not only to convey to you, but to formulate an excuse for ourselves: throwing away the zombie man after a subscription to a fitness club, you can finally relax! True, preferably standing.

How it works

There is nothing surprising in the fact that we like to sit so much (and now). Our body was programmed to conserve energy in an era of very limited food resources. When you chase a mammoth all day on an empty stomach, one desire crystallizes in your brain and settles forever in your genes: to kill him already, sit down and eat well! And then sleep - so that satiety lasts longer. Therefore, when you made a quarterly report or spent important negotiations, I really want only the very thing - to sit down, eat and sleep. Although running for a quarterly report for three days over rough terrain is no longer required.

In this sense, food is the second instinctive temptation of humanity, and it is very often combined with the first. That is, for complete pleasure, many of us need not only a quiet cozy sofa, but also some kind of snack (you can have a beer one). Automatic overeating is one of the most obvious negative factors of a sedentary lifestyle. Moreover, this food is often far from healthy! Another factor lying on the surface is the weakening of the cardiovascular system. In a passive state, the heart gets used to working at the lowest speed, blood flows more slowly, blood clots form more easily.

There are also unexpected dangers that have been recently discovered. This is the result of a rapid and significant change metabolic processes passing inside the skeletal muscles, in a long resting position. For example, studies in rats have shown that just one day of inactivity significantly reduces lipoprotein cholesterol levels in their muscles. high density(saying plain language, this is good cholesterol) and slows down the absorption of triglycerides. And five days bed rest lead to an increase in human plasma triglycerides and low-density lipoproteins, as well as to an increase in insulin resistance. All this is very harmful to our metabolism! Moreover, the deviations from the norm were by no means small: the level of triglycerides increased by 35%, and insulin resistance - by 50%! According to scientists, these negative changes were associated with a reduction in the activity of lipoprotein lipase, an enzyme that is responsible for burning fat during activity. muscle tissue. As a result, the amount of fat in the blood increases and cholesterol levels rise. Moreover, animal studies have shown that the activity of lipoprotein lipase is significantly reduced after six hours of a passive state of the body. For many of us, this is much less than a typical working day at the computer, even if you subtract a few hours of standing in traffic jams.

Also, a change in the metabolism of skeletal muscles leads to a slowdown in the breakdown of glucose in them and, as a result, to an increase in blood sugar. This, of course, is not yet diabetes if your kidneys are working properly. However, if they are acting up, naughty liver or misbehaving pancreas, a sedentary lifestyle may well spur the development of diabetes.

The most unpleasant thing is that the change in the metabolism of skeletal muscles during a long rest occurs at an equal rate in those who have grown these muscles all their lives, and in those who are generally difficult to suspect of any kind of bodybuilding. That is, the degree of fitness of your body and the number of these same muscles do not matter. Negative changes begin after six hours of passivity in both fat men, frail ascetics, and bodybuilders.

And now what i can do?

Another American study provides statistics according to which the average city dweller spends at least 8 hours a day in a passive state (excluding, of course, sleep). The situation with children, unfortunately, is the same. Every day they sit in front of a screen (TV, computer, iPad) for at least six hours a day, to which you can safely add 5-6 hours of sitting at a desk if the child is already going to school.

Yes, this is all very bad. But of course, we will not die (remember, for example, the fact that the life expectancy of a commendably active average medieval person hardly exceeded 60 years). However, something can still be done. If you work in an office, find a reason to get up regularly from your seat. A tear-off calendar, watering a cactus, a fifth cup of coffee for the secretary - everything is fine, as long as you get your healing five minutes of activity. If you can't find parking at the door, be glad you got the extra ride. And right now, as soon as you finish reading this article, get up and stand for at least a couple of minutes. We don't care, but you benefit.

Good afternoon, dear readers! In today's rhythm, a sedentary lifestyle - common occurrence. But, unfortunately, not everyone is aware of the consequences, which in the near future may manifest themselves in the form various diseases organs and systems of the body. These diseases are not always completely cured, so they can become a burden for life. Today we’ll talk about how to minimize the risk of consequences if you still can’t completely abandon inactivity.

Why is immobility dangerous?

A sedentary lifestyle (inactivity) is an insufficient physical activity of an individual in the course of his life.

abundance information technologies and a variety of modern gadgets save us from the need for constant or long intensive movement throughout the day. Many people work in offices and at home at computers, rarely get up from their workplace in order to stretch their arms, legs, or just move around.

On the one hand, this is a lesser burden on the body, but on the other hand, it is a danger. Thus, we do not strain our muscles, we do not train them, which can later turn out for us different kind diseases.

The results of the study of scientists

According to recent studies, a sedentary lifestyle negatively affects its duration. Those who spend 8 or more hours in a sitting position for 5-10 years live about 15 years less than those who sit less than 3 hours a day.

Such studies were carried out by implanting special biomarkers and measuring the key states of the body, which is long time in a sitting position.
And vice versa - in those who began to spend less than 8 hours a day in a sitting position, biomarkers began to decrease, the level of insulin in the blood returned to normal. Consequently, the risk of developing coronary heart disease, endocrine and oncological diseases decreased.

The consequences of a sedentary lifestyle in terms of biology

The natural level of blood and lymph flow decreases with low physical activity. They stagnate in the body, which leads to the production bad cholesterol. In addition, there is a significant decrease electrical activity muscles, their tone is lost, lethargy and flabbiness appear.

Posture at this time also suffers greatly. It often happens that a person is not just sitting, but is in a position with a curved spine. The duration and unnaturalness of such loads - main reason development of scoliosis, which in many cases may not be cured completely.

A failure in all the vital processes of the body causes the appearance of one or, as often happens, several ailments at the same time, which are poorly treated or can become chronic.

Metabolic disorders, excess weight, lethargy, fatigue - such factors should become a signal for a person that something is wrong with him. This is the body letting you know that it's time to change the conditions or, if possible, reduce the load.

Diseases from immobility

With insufficient motor activity, a malfunction occurs in the functioning of the whole organism, as well as its individual organs. All calories that were consumed with food throughout the day must be absorbed, and toxins removed.

When a person does not move enough, this rule is not met, since there is no need to waste energy. In this case, the metabolism is disturbed. Excess quantity harmful substances accumulated by the body is not removed from it, which causes a clear deterioration in well-being.

Bad feeling

Most of those who had to deal with insufficient motor activity, sooner or later they may feel:

a significant decrease in the flexibility of the spine;
apathy, depression;
hands and feet begin to grow numb and cold;
and morning awakening;
soreness;
lethargy, constant fatigue.

Diseases

The consequences could be even more dire. As a result of the conditions mentioned above, diseases such as:

Osteochondrosis and scoliosis. These diseases develop due to insufficient load on the spine. Since the joints do not move, salts are deposited in them, which can cause blockage of normal blood circulation.
Obesity. Eating is not followed by physical activity. Consequently, a sedentary lifestyle causes the accumulation of unused resources in the body, which accumulate in the form of body fat.
Constipation. Sitting position is unnatural for our body. A long stay in this state negatively affects the intestines, peristalsis is disturbed and constipation occurs. If this happens, then in addition to physical exertion, you also need to undergo an appropriate examination by a specialized doctor to resume a normal state.
Constant headache. Significant overvoltage cervical spine is its main cause.
Phlebeurysm. Many have noticed how, after a working day spent in a sitting position, they hurt lower limbs. This happens due to stagnation of venous blood. Over time, the tone of the walls of the veins weakens.
Problems with the reproductive system. For both men and women sitting position provides for a long time negative impact on the reproductive system. The reason is the stagnation of blood in the pelvic area. According to statistics, it is for this reason that the number of infertility diagnoses has increased significantly.

But what to do if this way of life cannot be completely abandoned? How to minimize the harm of working at a computer or activities that require being in a sitting position? Everything is very simple! Gotta minimize it Negative consequences. And the best way out of this situation will be regular exercise.

8 Exercises to Prevent Disease

What leads to inactivity, we have already figured out. Now let's define a set of exercises that will help to cope with the negative consequences of insufficient physical activity:

1. Every hour for 15 minutes it is worth changing the position of the body. You can walk, stand, run, or just actively move your limbs in a standing position. This will make it possible to resume normal blood circulation and, as a result, normal blood supply to all organs and systems of the body.

2. If it is not possible to get up from the table, you can do the following:

bend-unbend the legs at the knees;
perform circular rotations of the feet;
tilt and move the head in a circle;
strain and relax the muscles of the buttocks;
turn the body left and right;
tense and relax the muscles of the back;
raise the toes of the feet without lifting the heels off the floor;
squeeze-unclench fingers and toes.

3. Stretch or do periodic tilts left and right.

4. Lean forward as low as possible, trying to reach your toes with your fingers.

5. Simulate walking with high knees.

6. Daily morning exercises. This should become an integral part of your day. Few do it at home before work. This is done by people who know for sure that 20 minutes spent exercising in the morning will more than pay off with normal well-being throughout the day until the evening.

7. Arrange as often as possible hiking. Force yourself to leave the house 20-30 minutes earlier and walk quietly to work. You will see how after a week or two you no longer want to use transport. While walking, you will have time to think, distract yourself, admire the surrounding nature and, most importantly, stretch your muscles and prepare yourself for sedentary work.

8. Spend the weekend in nature. Everyone knows that prevention is much more useful and cheaper than treatment. An active lifestyle is the key normal functioning all organs and systems. If you lead an active lifestyle, you do not expose your body to the risk of diseases and pathologies.

Conclusion

Timely work on yourself, regular physical exercise, and if necessary, seeking advice from a specialized specialist will become your assistants with inactivity. Remember that any disease is easier to prevent than to cure. And it's much healthier for your health.

Stick to these simple rules! Let your work bring you only pleasure!

The material for the article was prepared by Yulia Gintsevich.

AT modern world, unfortunately, a very large percentage of people who lead a passive lifestyle and do not even know what it is fraught with for them. And you need to know the enemy by sight, because then serious consequences can be easily avoided.

What a sedentary lifestyle

The "mobility" of a person's lifestyle is calculated quite simply. If an individual moves for less than 30 minutes during the day, then, alas, such a lifestyle is sedentary, and this is very dangerous for health and even the vital activity of internal organs.

Reasons for a sedentary lifestyle

Basic obvious reason sedentary image life has become technological progress. The advent of modern technology has almost completely eliminated the need for people to move (not counting workers who work exclusively physically). Office workers spend their entire working day in front of computers.
Factories are being automated as much as possible, and most workers need only monitor the operation of modern equipment. Schoolchildren do not get bored at home doing nothing, because now there is Wi-Fi throughout the apartment, and there is no reason to go out for a walk in the yard even in sunny weather and so on…

The human body gets used to the constant lack of movement and literally loses the ability to burn normal amount calories and correctly, rationally use all the elements received during meals.

As is known, muscle mass does not disappear, but hides under fat, therefore, due to the lack of the ability to burn extra calories, the body quickly gains fat mass, and then obesity appears, which is a serious test for the liver, kidneys and, of course, the heart, and the muscles themselves undergo dystrophy. Even minimal physical activity with such problems will be given as difficult as possible.

Video: the effect of inactivity on the body

Did you know? Burn fat accumulated over Last year, quite simple, but not many people can say goodbye to the fat mass of past years. Fat has the property of becoming stiff, and the body considers it habitual, which prevents it from being easily driven away.

Daily calorie intake per day while sitting

calories- units that measure the amount of heat received by the body from digested food. To avoid accumulation excess fat exists in the human body certain norm consumption of kilocalories per day for different categories people (the norm depends on gender, age, lifestyle).

So, required amount kilocalories for women who lead a passive lifestyle:

19-25 years - no more than 2000 kcal / day;
26-50 years - 1800 kcal / day;
51 years and more - 1600 kcal / day.

Calories needed to maintain normal body fat men:

19-30 years old - 2400 kcal / day;
31-50 years - 2200 kcal / day;
51 years and more - no more than 2000 kcal / day.

Important! Even if you need to lose weight, you should not consume less than 1200 kilocalories per day. Such experiments can lead to diseases of the gallbladder, as well as disorders of the heart.

Sedentary lifestyle: health implications

The consequences of a sedentary lifestyle can be quite serious, because the whole human body takes part in such “inaction”.

So, the resulting hypodynamia can cause the following consequences:

obesity (for early stage- the growth of the "beer belly" in men);
prostatitis and loss of potency in men;
osteochondrosis and other problems with the spine;
sciatica and;
constipation;
problems with the cardiovascular system;
liver problems;
urolithiasis disease.

The list of consequences is not complete, because the body of each person reacts in its own way to lifestyle.

Benefits of physical activity while sedentary

The need for physical activity for modern society obvious. No wonder they say: movement is life. And when spending most of the day in a sitting position, training for the muscles is all the more necessary.

Scientists have calculated that a simple two minutes of activity during each hour of work. Firstly, the legs will not become numb; secondly, additional calories are spent; thirdly, the muscles will warm up and even the head will become “lighter”. Such activity will prevent the appearance of stagnation in the tissues, improve blood circulation and normalize breathing.

In order to avoid shortening your life due to an inactive lifestyle, doctors strongly recommend adding at least 2-3 hours of non-intense training to your usual week. In this case, none of the above ailments threaten.

Exercises for Sedentary People

Many large office companies have long developed special exercises and allocated time for employees, during which people can break away from their desks and do some simple exercises to warm up a tired body.

In domestic companies, such experience is not common, but this is not a reason to show indifference to your body.
Consider a few simple exercises with which you can warm up without leaving your workplace. Before performing this complex, it is desirable to “warm up” the body. To do this, you need to walk quickly for several minutes, or go a couple of floors back and forth.

"Elastic buttocks"

We sit on the edge of the chair, tilt the body slightly forward.
We put relaxed hands on the table.
We strain the buttocks and raise the body a few centimeters, hold the pelvis in this position for a few seconds.
We perform 10-15 repetitions, each time the load can be increased.

"Beautiful Breasts"

Sit on the edge of a chair, straighten your back.
We “hug” the armrests of the chair with our hands so that the hands are on the outside.
We squeeze the elbows, mentally trying to press the armrests to the body, hold the tense elbows for 8-10 seconds.
Perform 10-15 repetitions, the load can be increased.

"Steel Press"

We sit on a chair: the back is even, the buttocks are tense.
Doing deep breath, while exhaling, we retract the stomach.
We perform at least 50 repetitions, make sure that the breathing is even.

"Down with the belly!"

We sit on a chair: the back is even, the body is slightly forward, arms back or to the sides, knees together.
Slowly, with effort, raise your knees up to your chest. Perform 20-30 repetitions (the abdominal muscles should be tense).

"Biceps like u"

We stand near the table: the back is straight, the press is tense.
We take the edge of the table with our hands and mentally try to lift it, straining our arms (biceps).
Repeat the exercise 15-20 times, the load can be increased.

"Strong hands"

We stand with our backs to the table, bending our elbows, rest our palms on the surface of the table.
We take our legs forward and try to squat, focusing on our hands (reminiscent of an exercise on uneven bars).
We perform 10-15 times, the load can be increased.

"Warm-up for the feet"

Sitting on a chair, lift the sock as much as possible towards yourself and back.
Do circular motions to one side and the other.
Take off your shoes and roll a thick marker or glue stick on the floor.

"Slender calves"

Stand behind a chair, back straight, you can hold on to the back without shifting the weight on your hands.
We rise on toes and linger in this position for 5-7 seconds.
We perform 20-30 repetitions.

Video: workplace exercises

Important! If with each exercise performed you feel work and slight fatigue of the necessary muscles, you are doing everything right.

Diet for a sedentary lifestyle

In order for the body to receive the required number of calories and manage to burn everything, you need to follow a few:

eat at the same time. The meal plan is very important role in weight loss. The body must know what time it receives the necessary trace elements, and this schedule must be followed impeccably. And any failure is a great stress for the stomach and the body as a whole;
smaller portion - more snacks. Ideally, the number of meals should be 5-7 times a day, that is, the body should constantly feel a little hunger (in no case starvation and not severe oversaturation). The secret is a small plate, which fits a smaller amount of products, but looks voluminous and satisfying. The first couple of days will be difficult, but the stomach will quickly get used to it;

exclude unnecessary junk food . Pizza, fast food, sweets, smoked and others harmful products and so do not bring any benefit, and with a sedentary lifestyle, they are completely tantamount to death. You can treat yourself to something tasty once a month, but there must be a reason for this, for example, an important report completed on time.

So, a sedentary lifestyle in itself is not a sentence, and this does not mean at all that a person will definitely suffer from obesity or heart disease if certain rules. Every day, sitting at the computer for a long time, we shorten our lives, and we only have one. You need to do simple exercises and eat right. In this scenario, a passive lifestyle will not adversely affect health.

Or a complete lack of it, including sitting in one place for long periods of time, increases the risk of developing dozens of chronic diseases - from cancer and diabetes to cardiovascular disease and non-alcoholic liver disease. Ergonomics experts warn: standing for too long is also not worth it, as this negatively affects health, varicose veins, leg and back pain, and carotid artery disease may appear.

The way out is to change the types of activity throughout the day. Sitting all day and standing all day are equally bad.
Alan Hedge Professor of Ergonomics at Cornell University

Every half an hour of work in the office, you should sit for 20 minutes, stand for eight minutes, and walk the rest of the time, recommends Professor Haige. If you stand for more than 10 minutes in a row, a person starts, and this leads to back problems and musculoskeletal system generally.

The British Journal of Sports Medicine (BJSM) published recommendations earlier this year from international group experts. Scientists suggest mixing from two to four hours standing with light physical activity during the working day. NASA researchers also found that standing for two minutes 16 times a day is enough to keep bones and muscles in good shape.

Other scientists have tried to answer the question of how to mitigate the negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle. Of interest is a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (AJPM) on fussiness. The researchers studied the data of the British Women's School, took part in the experiment large group girls under the age of 20. 13,000 participants were asked to rate, on a scale of one to 10, how often they fidget and fidget. It turned out that girls who do not fidget at all, the risk of death is higher than the rest.

You don't have to run a marathon. Perhaps it is enough for you to make a couple of movements, and this will already give you certain advantages.
Janet Cade, Professor of Nutritional Epidemiology at the University of Leeds

But a number of studies indicate that even regular ones cannot compensate for all negative effects from prolonged sitting still all day long. A sedentary lifestyle leads to physiological changes body and can cause chronic diseases, for example.

Standing burns one more calorie per minute than sitting. This means that at least 240 additional calories will be burned in four hours. Sitting still for more than an hour lowers lipoprotein lipase levels, causing calories to go to fat stores instead of muscle.
Alan Hage, Professor of Ergonomics at Cornell University

Scientists are also trying to figure out how to convince people to sit less. An article published in the online journal Health Psychology Review reviewed 38 different measures that can encourage people to leave their chairs. Really worked:

Informing people about the benefits of being more active.
Changing the working environment, such as installing desks that allow you to work while standing or desks with adjustable heights.
Time spent sitting.
Setting specific goals: what to do while you're sitting.
The introduction of a special signal and cue, after which people must stand up.

The non-working measures were mainly aimed at getting people to devote more time to physical education. and less to sit still not equivalent concepts.

Michael Jensen, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester who specializes in problems and diabetes, tries to sit less himself and recommends it to his patients. When Jensen needs to meet someone, he looks for a place where they can walk together instead of sitting. He advises patients who have children to be on their feet during sports games offspring, and not just sit and watch them.