Prolonged sitting is the new smoking. It’s time to get up and move!
The modern lifestyle!
Our modern lifestyles, with all its comforts and challenges, are designed to keep us sitting, for long hours on the stretch!
Increasingly, everything from professional duties to entertainment options, are more and more geared towards a comfortable seated lifestyle. But is prolonged sitting really comfortable in the long run? We all know that a sedentary lifestyle is not good for our bodies. But how harmful it really is?
In this blog post, we will try to explain how sitting for a long period can affect us.
Harmful Effects of Prolonged Sitting
1. Stiff Necks and Backs:
Too much sitting messes with our posture, leading to annoying aches and pains in your neck, shoulders and back.
2. Muscles imbalance:
While we’re planted in our chairs, our muscles are at war. Some are doing all the heavy lifting, while others are basically taking a nap. This imbalance can set us up for muscle issues all over our bodies, from shoulders, hips to glutes.
3. Heart Troubles:
When we sit too much, our blood doesn’t circulate well, making our hearts work harder. This can cause problems like blood clots, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.
4. Weight gain:
Sitting slows down our metabolism, making it harder for our bodies to burn calories. Say hello to the infamous “desk job weight gain.”
5. Mental Health:
Too much sitting has been linked to feeling down and anxious. The lack of activity can leave us feeling low on energy and motivation.
Our bodies, as per basic anatomy, have evolved to help us stand straight, something not so common with other species! This has involved the development of specific muscles around our glutes including hip flexors! And these are the muscles that are critical to our body balance, the center of gravity, the health of key joints like knees etc.
Also Read: Improve Your Bad Posture: Quick Break-Time Exercises
But this entire muscle group gets immobile in a prolonged sitting position. And hence, being seated for long hours leads to underdevelopment, weakness and chronic inactivation of gluteal muscles! This leads to:
- Chronic incorrect posture
- Lower back problems
- Forward head
- Rounded shoulders
- Greater stress on knees etc.
So basically the entire chain of our body muscles, right from our ankle to the neck lose the right balance and coordination and start making unnatural compensation to keep your body pointing straight!
So, now that we have had a quick overview of how harmful it is, let’s get moving!
Because if the problem is “sitting for too long”, then the only solution is to “NOT sit for too long”!
O’Coach!
