Recent Posts

Are you sitting down? May not be a good idea. The average amount of time that we spend seated per day is 8.9 hours. It is no wonder that when we get up, our lower backs ache, we experience tingling or numbness in our rears and lower thighs, and might actually get a little depressed.

The symptoms are normal...if you are seated for long periods of time during the day, and of course, this can't be good. Sitting is a public health risk. "People need to understand that the qualitative mechanisms of sitting are completely different from walking or exercising." This is according to University of Missouri's Marc Hamilton, a microbiologist.

Studies by the Mayo Clinic found that people are naturally attracted to sit. This is fascinating, because 1.5 million years ago, it was all about staying on your feet...hunting or being hunted. And just 150 years ago 90% of humans were agriculturally employed. Somehow, over this short period of time, we have become addicted to the chair.

If you are standing around, just mulling around, you are using muscles designed for support that never tire. They utilize neurons in the nervous system  which are needed for low intensity activity. These muscles are rich  in enzymes such as lipoprotein lipase, which grabs fat and cholesterol from the blood. It helps to burn the fat and shift the cholesterol from the bad kind (LDL) to the good kind (HDL). When you are seated, your muscles relax, and enzyme activity drops some 90-95%! Within just a few hours, healthy cholesterol levels in your system falls some 20%.

And the data backs up the findings. Older people who live less than sedentary lives have half the mortality rate of their peers. Couch potatoes have higher rates of hypertension, obesity, high blood sugar, and low HDL Cholesterol. On average, lean people stand 2 hours longer than obese people. And the obesity rate of children continues to rise as they are entertained by electronics, computers and video games instead of playing in the great outdoors.

So, the moral of the story? Get up! Walk around. Use your lunch hour for a workout or a brisk walk. Invest in a higher desk where you can stand at your computer! Take frequent breaks and invest in a good chair. When you get home from a day behind the desk, do all you can in your power to not sit down again! Stay on your feet and move. It could save your life.

Don't become a victim of the chair. Learn to conquer it.