Have you heard the latest statement, ‘sitting is the new smoking’? Well, unfortunately, it is true and even if you exercise daily.
Is sitting while working harmful? Is it bad for your posture? What are sitting side effects?
New research strikes this statement as something to feel very unsettled about. A large study published in Annals of Internal Medicine looked at the habits of nearly 8,000 adults and found that the amount of time participants spent sitting on a daily basis was directly correlated with their risk of early death. And yes, even if you exercise regularly. So what is the scoop?
Unfortunately, a lot of people in the Western world today spend their time sitting when it comes to their jobs. There aren’t many people left hunting and foraging for food on a daily basis. Instead, we are sitting hunched over a computer all day and for most days.
However, the study shows that is you get up every 30 minutes and movement each day, then you should be able to risk these risks significantly.
Wondering how the heck you can get yourself to move every 30 minutes? Yeah, us too! It seems like quite a task to do but if you set your mind to it and put your health first, it should be an easy habit to pick up than you think!
Drink More Water
Now, this may seem like a silly one, but the more water you drink, the more you will need to pee. Simple as that. When nature calls, get yourself up out of your chair and walk to the bathroom. Take the long way too if you can or take a moment to walk around just a bit more when you are going to the bathroom as well!
Set an Alarm
Use your phone, your watch, your computer or whatever the heck you have and set it to go off every 30 minutes. If you are in an environment to do so, then set whichever device your alarm is on far enough away that you are literally going to have to get up to go turn it off. That way you can’t just ignore the alarm going off by hitting stop and continue what you were doing already.
Establish a Reward
Think of something you love. Whatever it is you love and make sure it is affordable to acquire frequently, make that your reward for getting up every 30 minutes. Okay, maybe that is even a bit of an extreme goal at first. First, start by thinking how many hours you are probably sitting all day. Divide that number by 2 to get how many half-hour periods are in that amount of time. Then set yourself a goal to achieve half of the number of half hours for standing or maybe even two-thirds for to start with. If you achieve your goal, then you get your reward. Be strict with yourself though–a failure at your goal is a HUGE heck no to getting your reward. (You can even hold someone else accountable that you would have to get your reward from, so if you do lie you have to live with lying to someone else and not just yourself).
What do you think? Do you think ‘sitting is the new smoking’?
