Warning Sitting Too Much Is Killing You

Warning Sitting Too Much Is Killing You

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Risks affect desk jockeys, business owners and truck drivers alike

Did you know that sitting too much is killing you? Yes, in today’s society we are all too sedentary and it is affecting our health, our jobs and our businesses. How you might ask.

Remember the “50 Things I Wish I Knew Before Going Into Business For Myself” article a few weeks back? Tip # 36 was “Stand up, stretch even while on phone this helps you stop yawning in customers ear”.

Let me explain what I found while doing my research for today’s article.

 

 

Serious health risks are preventable

Do you realize the health risks you are taking every day when you find yourself sitting too much, all day long? Statistics show that sitting too much increases our risk for obesity, high blood sugar and metabolic issues. With high blood pressure on the rise who needs another contributing factor? Not me and I’ll bet you don’t want one either.

Have you noticed the increase in diagnosed diabetes in both adults and children alike? If you are like me you know a little bit about diabetes, but just enough to know that you don’t want to deal with the issues it creates.

As you look around while shopping, running errands or are out with the family have you noticed how many people, both men and women are carrying too much fat around the middle? I don’t know about you but I don’t want the disease and symptoms like high cholesterol that comes with a body heavy with fat. It makes our organs work even harder.

Sitting too much also seems to increase the risk of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer.

The article about sitting too much was written by Dr. James Lavine, MD. It compared adults who spent less than two hours a day in front of the TV or video or computer games with those who logged more than four hours a day of online game time. Those with greater screen time had:

  • A nearly 50 percent increased risk of death from any cause
  • About a 125 percent increased risk of events associated with cardiovascular disease, such as chest pain (angina) or heart attack.

Take personal inventory

Where does that put you and me? The scary part of this is that it’s not only couch potatoes that are sitting too much. No, even the men and women I work with daily; business owners, doctors, nurses, truck drivers, dispatchers and auto transport brokers are suffering from effects of too much sitting.

So, what can we do about sitting at work all-day and still get our work done? Here are 3 things you can do throughout the day to avoid sitting too much. You can avoid becoming a statistic or worse.

  •  Stand up as often as possible, even if only for one minute. Flex your muscles to start pumping the blood through your veins. Hold each stretch for 30 seconds or more…the longer the better. Breathe in slowly allowing the fresh oxygen to reach the lower extremities and stretch.
  • Walk instead of sitting too much for breaks including your lunch break. Take a stroll around the office, exit the building and walk around the block. For my truck driver friends, I know how difficult it is but…stop at least every 3 hours. Get out of the truck and walk, stretch and drink water. Avoid sitting whenever possible and simply walk. 15 minutes of walking will help your heart beat strong, lower your blood pressure and you will return to work feeling like you’ve had an afternoon nap.
  • To avoid pain from sitting too much you can roll your shoulders; first your right shoulder, then your left and finally both shoulders at one time.  Follow this by a neck roll, very slowly from side to side and front to back.

Although these exercises may seem trivial, trust me they are not. Any movement of the muscles will not only increase blood flow it will keep your lymphatic system moving. When your body is in motion it is performing the way it should, burning calories so your metabolism won’t shut down and your work performance will be better as a result, too.

If you are like me and I know some of you are you’ll use these tips to regain your lost energy, productivity and enjoy better health, too.

Which tip are you going to put to good use this week? Please leave me a comment below. Share with your co-workers who are “sitting too much”, too.

 

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