By John Valentik

Have you heard this phrase before? Dr. James Levine of the Mayo Clinic coined this clever but all so true line. Here, we’ll shed some light on why sitting is now getting compared to something as bad for your health as smoking. We’ll also cover a few things you can do to combat it. Now stand up and start reading!

As mentioned in one of our recent posts, Move It AND Lose It, extended sitting puts excessive stress on our necks, backs, shoulders and hips. Extended sitting for many of us is far too common considering a large majority of our workdays happen in a seated position. Taking that a step further, we eat every meal seated, commute to and from the office seated, and get home from a long day of work and sit right back down on a comfy couch. While relaxing is great and sometimes absolutely necessary, we must realize that this sitting ends up causing our bodies to literally change shape over time. When your hips get accustomed to sitting for long periods, they want to stay in that flexed position. The same can be said for our tight chest and shoulder muscles, in addition to our upper back area, a.k.a. thoracic spine region. These areas were meant to be mobile, not sit and stagnate.

Below you can view a couple of basic stretches to aid in combatting sit posture. Adding these two stretches in periodically throughout your day can aid in postural improvement, increased blood flow, and decreased stress!

In addition to the musculoskeletal issues that sitting can cause, the real issues lie beneath the surface. Many different studies have shown direct correlation between extended sitting and increased prevalence of obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and unhealthy cholesterol levels. This cluster of conditions is referred to as metabolic syndrome and is becoming far too common in today’s society. Remember, just because you have one of these conditions, such as high blood pressure, does not mean that you are then immune to obesity, high blood sugar, cholesterol, etc. In fact, having one of these conditions typically puts you at a higher risk for the others. Here is a pretty powerful video of some of the other impacts of sitting.

While this information might be motivating you to burn all of the chairs in your house, don’t grab the matches yet. Simple, proactive measures can go a long way in combatting the negative impacts of sitting. Check out the list of suggestions below and subscribe to our blog for more wellness related tips!

• Set a timer to get up from your desk every 30-60 minutes
• When meeting with colleagues, have ‘walking’ meetings
• Incorporate the stretches provided above (30-60 seconds per side) multiple times per day
• Walking during the commercials of your favorite show
• Use the restroom on the floor above or below you
• Walk to a coworkers office and talk to them versus email
• Put your printer on the other side of the room
• Park further away in parking lots and take the stairs instead of the elevator