In the past I've talked about how much of an effect sitting has on your posture and back pain, but I ran across a recent research study about sitting and heart problems. Recently the University of South Carolina and the Pennington Biomedical Research Center published a research study stating that those who sat the most had the greatest risk of heart failure. We probably all knew that already though, right? They found that those who sat for 23 hours a week had a 64% greaterch chance of dying from heart disease than those who sat for 11 hours a week or less. The research gets interesting when they started asking about the exercise habits of those who sat 23 hours a week.
Many of the men led healthy lifestyles. They exercised regularly and had healthy habits. They worked their jobs, exercised, and then watched tv. That's a pretty normal lifestyle for many of us. The interesting thing is their risk of heart attack still increased despite the healthy habits. The exercise wasn't enough. Here's an abstract of the study.
I know it can be a little shocking to think that working out on your lunch break doesn't balance out the 40, 50, or even 80 hours a week we spend sitting down throughout the day. What can we do about it though?
The researchers feel that exercising is great, but we should also do everything we can to move more. Get up and walk around the office whenever you can. When you are at home, instead of sitting down to watch TV, try to find activities that will keep you on your feet. Maybe take up a hobby, play sports with the kids, or help your wife with dinner. Gasp! i know.
Focus on exercising, eat healthy, and stay on your feet as much as you can. With that being said, I'm standing up and getting away from my computer.
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