How to Combat the Harmful Effects of Excessive Sitting

The Brain

Sitting for prolonged periods of time on a daily basis, without standing or moving periodically, triggers a chain reaction of unhealthy side effects. Less blood and oxygen pumps throughout the body, which slows the release of important brain chemicals and affects concentration, mood, and decision-making.

Neck, Shoulders, and Back

The longer you sit, the harder it is to maintain good posture. The neck pushes forward and shoulders round. This hunched-over position causes strain to the cervical vertebrae and cervical disc degeneration, along with muscle tension and even headaches. Sitting for extended periods of time weakens the abdominal muscles so that they cannot properly support the spine. As the spine slumps, the soft discs between the vertebrae are stressed, resulting in spinal disc degeneration and back pain over time. A slumped spine can also impact the lungs and diaphragm, creating unnatural shallow breathing patterns.

Vital Organs, Circulation, and Metabolism

Long-term sitting compromises proper blood circulation. Over time, this causes vital organs to function below optimal levels. Poor circulation from excessive sitting can also cause numbness in your legs, fluid retention, swollen veins, and contribute to life-threatening blood clots known as deep vein thrombosis.

Research conclusively shows a link between a sedentary lifestyle and cardiovascular disease as well as diabetes. Studies also show that routinely sitting for long periods of time can increase the risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, digestive problems, anxiety and depression, dementia, and even certain cancers.

Wiseman Health Take-Home Advice

The goal is to use your body to its full dynamic and functional capacity throughout the day. Remember, the body likes variety and movement versus long-term stasis. Here are a few ways to combat excessive modern sitting throughout the day:

• When you are sitting, always focus on proper posture and use your core back and abdominal muscles to actively support your body. Remember, proper sitting is an expansive, muscularly active process that engages your whole body and not a passive process that allows your body to fully relax and retract, which is the most common form of sitting today.
• Consider an adjustable-height work desk and try to stand more at work or at home. Do not stand in one position longer than ten minutes. An easy, affordable solution that provides a mobile standing work desk for a laptop can be found here. More expensive and substantial options for an adjustable-height work desk can be found and there are many types to meet your needs.
• If you sit for long periods of time every day, create a daily routine with multiple breaks—your goal should be to stand up and move every 20 minutes. Walk to a co-worker’s desk in place of emailing or calling. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Take a walk at lunchtime. There are many creative ways throughout the day to move your body and avoid excessive sitting.
• Try squatting rather than sitting. Squatting can be done anywhere and is a great substitute for sitting. Squatting is a more metabolically and muscularly active sedentary position, one in which we have evolved to do naturally but has since gone extinct in modern life.
• Choose lying down over sitting any chance you get, for instance, when watching a movie on your couch at home.
• Increase your daily steps. Aim for 5,000 to 10,000 steps a day. If needed, use a fitness tracker to count steps and to help increase awareness of your daily activity. Fitness trackers are a great way to initially sync fitness data with your internal intuition of the process. Eventually, you can stop focusing on the external data and experience your daily movement internally, intuitively, and naturally as designed.
• Walk outside. Natural environments have a positive influence on your mental and spiritual well-being, along with helping increase your vitamin D levels from the Sun.