Sept 13, 2013. It is 7 AM. And I feel great! At 5 AM I began and finished a 90-minute cardiovascular and resistance training routine. And now, like many of you, whether you completed an exercise routine or not, it is time to work. And “work” often involves commuting by car or train and sitting in a chair and slouching at a desk at various times, if not most, of the day. You may perhaps think, “Oh No.” Yes, “Oh No, and Uh Oh!” Many studies show increases in sedentary daily habits, practices or tasks, such as sitting or screen watching, to be harmful to our health and well-being. But what is most surprising is that these same studies state sitting and screen watching actions and behaviors are costly or damaging to our health even if we are physically active for other parts of the day each week. I believe this is common sense but we need to justify it numerically (STAT GEEKS?) to understand and get every person and worker motivated to be abstinent from the commuter and office chairs or seats and make it a priority to move often, move a lot, and never put your fitness, health or wellness second tier. You are important and your body deserves daily attention in the form of daily medicine- Exercise!
Exercise is Medicine Month. May. It also happens to be my birthday month. It is May 1st to be exact. And September is Fight Obesity Month. And in honor of Exercise is Medicine and Fight Obesity Month, I am asking and challenging each one of you to do something healthful and physically active daily for yourself, your family and friends. Make me proud. And yourself and others too.
We are a growing nation stimulated by rapid growth in success. Unfortunately that growth I am speaking of is in the form of body weight and circumferences (waists). And that has stimulated an increase in the number of health or medical cases involving cardiovascular heart disease, including cardiac arrest and stroke, depression, diabetes mellitus, low back pain, osteoporosis, etc. Emerging research reveals the harmful, negative consequences of sitting and screen watching and numerous scientific studies indicate the majority of us sit or screen watch more than 10 hours a day for long stretches of time (weeks). And with the BOOM in social networking and TEXTing and TWEETing our desktop and mobile screen viewing time has increased by more than 3 to 5 hours a day. At this rate we are going to blame our “butts” and technology for us having diabetes mellitus, heart disease, musculoskeletal disorders, obesity or premature death. Yet, it is up to us to get up, move (and smile) and reap the healthful benefits of exercise.
The average American spends half the day sitting or screen watching. And Americans with sit down and/or screen watching careers or jobs have two times the rate of cardiovascular disease and are greater than 50% more likely to die of heart disease. And if we are sedentary beyond our 9 to 5 gig greater than 60% of us are more likely to pass away from heart disease. It is a progressive slope where more sitting, screen watching, TV watching, video game playing, etc., yields greater sedentary levels and poorer health and well-being. An American Heart Association meeting mentioned fat deposition around or near the heart’s pericardium was linked to the number of hours a person was sitting or screen watching each day for numbers of weeks. Researchers and specialists in Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle have quantified there is a 148% increase in the relative risk of cardiovascular disease, 112% increase in the relative risk of diabetes mellitus and 49% increase in the relative risk of premature death from sitting more than half of our day, day after day week after week. In addition, physiology researchers state that sitting or “unloading” decreases muscle lipoprotein lipase activity which leads to a dawdling metabolism and fewer calories burned over time, an increase in triglycerides and lessening of HDL (“The Good Kind”) cholesterol, and rises in blood sugar levels, inflammatory markers, such as C-reactive protein, and waist circumference.
The importance of beating the effects of sitting and screen watching is manifest in the mirror of our quality of life. If you want to be able to not be affected by the effects of aging or have chronic health issues or pain then you must stand up and move forward one step at a time. Consider this about sitting versus standing. The body burns 1 calorie per minute sitting. Conversely, the body burns 60 calories per minute when standing. Sitting, the body develops musculoskeletal imbalances and postural muscle weaknesses which causes changes in the integrity and strength of muscle fascia and tissues and lowers or turns off neuromuscular electrical activity to the gluteals (‘da butt) and tone to other large muscle groups. As a result the body lowers its fat burning enzymes by 90%, including the aforementioned lipoprotein lipase, good cholesterol levels by 20% and insulin sensitivity by 24% over time which leads to a number of conditions or disease, such as Metabolic X Syndrome, and premature aging and death. “Ye who sits the most will likely die the sooneth.” But standing up and moving tempers the costly and harmful effects from sitting and revs the body and its engine and parts to build up and efficiently work towards being a leaner and stronger machine and more likely to live a happier and longer life with vigor.
We are Americans. We are a society. We want to play but we mostly work. And there we often sit. So we have to figure how to sit and do respected things, such as commute, view screens and/or work, and stand up to move around more often to be healthier and leaner and stronger, and to definitely offset the negative effects from sitting. However, exercise and standing do not balance or equal out the effects of sitting or sitting and working. First, standing is no panacea to good health and wellness. It is stated that prolonged standing can lead to the development of musculoskeletal disorders, especially in the legs, lower back and spine, and vascular disorders, such as varicose veins. And the benefits from daily physical activity is likely not enough to counter the effects of sitting because of the amount of time we sit versus do intensity-specific physical activities and stand-up types of things. As a result of the debate between sitting and standing it is understandable to know we are Americans and we are confused and feel misguided about this. While it is always best to sit less and stand up and move more (and more and more and more), health professionals advise and strongly feel it is in our best interest to follow a 1:1 sit to stand ratio and perhaps even lean towards a more lenient sit to stand ratio favoring getting up and performing physical activity. Here are a few tips to do that:
Ø Participate in exercise classes.
Ø Set reminders to get up and move.
Ø Sit on a stability ball while working.
Ø Stand up when talking on the phone.
Ø Take or use the stairs whenever possible.
Ø Try a standing desk or use a treadmill desk.
Ø At any time of the day, go for a run or walk.
Ø Use AROMATHERAPY to be calm, enhance your mood, or revitalize self!
Ø Walk (Ab Walkout) to the break room for a healthy meal /snack or H2O.
We have at our disposal a plethora of information on fitness, health and wellness via the world-wide-web. And despite the greatest and latest information, teachings and technology we ignore professional opinions and warnings on how to avoid increased physical inactivity and sitting affects to our being or life wheel, such as the domains of our energy, mood, relationships and stamina. We are at a crossroads with physical activity versus sitting and screen watching- what we want and what we are willing to do to achieve it. We want to be successful and “win” but without a lot of effort or work. But our bodies will not be conditioned or strengthened by following the path of least resistance. We must avoid complacency and idleness and move freely to condition our moral compass and experience maturation. The more times we stand up and move away from sitting the more our being and life will be nourished and strengthened. I believe and it is proven that people who are more active, move more often or play competitive or recreational sports are generally happier and healthier, have greater esteem and motivation, sense to have more muscle-tone and reduced stressed, etc. And it is possible that 2 to 3 fewer hours of sitting or screen viewing time could increase life expectancy. A win-win!
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