Scientific research continues to show that prolonged sitting or static postures promote chronic disease and shorten life expectancy. The recommended measures in most countries focus on increasing exercise on a one-time basis, but few speak to the importance of overall movement throughout the day.
Even if you do half an hour of intense exercise during which your heart rate will rise and you're flushing out toxins because you're sweating, if you stay totally inactive all day outside of that, it's the same as eating fries or ice cream the entire time you're not active.
Australia was the first country to adopt guidelines for physical activity for workers. The country's authorities advise reducing inactive time and interrupting it regularly with physical activities. Colombia is also aware of this problem. The computers are even programmed to take mandatory breaks that allow employees to move around during these downtime periods.
Sedentary lifestyle is the 4thfactor of premature mortality recognized worldwide by the WHO.
If you're still not convinced, you should know that nearly 42 studies have shown that sitting for more than 8 hours uninterrupted every day is unquestionably associated with a higher risk of mortality, regardless of how much additional physical activity is done outside of those times. The sedentary lifestyle factor comes out on top even if we take all the mortalities related to cancer, cardiovascular problems or the incidence of type 2 diabetes.
It is mainly metabolic processes that suffer from this lack of activity.
Scientists have shown that prolonged periods of inactivity are associated with insulin resistance, impaired glucose tolerance and diabetes.
Each hour of daily sedentary time increases the risk of insulin resistance by 3% and those who sit for very long periods of time have a 2-fold increase in the risk of diabetes compared to workers who remain mobile.
What happens if we replace the sitting position with a standing position?
It might seem logical that standing is already less harmful than remaining in a seated and static position.
According to Dr. James A. Levine, co-director of the Mayo Clinic and obesity fellow at Arizona State University, says that if you sit for long periods of time and stand up, beneficial changes are already occurring after 90 seconds of standing.
In fact, this is enough to activate the muscular system as well as the metabolism of sugars, triglycerides and cholesterol regulated by insulin.
Research published by the European Heart Journal shows that sitting for 2 hours a day and standing for 2 hours a day already reduces blood glucose levels by 2%, triglycerides by 11% and total cholesterol by 6%.
People who stand for ¼ of their workday have a much lower risk of being affected by obesity and metabolic syndrome. These risks are further reduced if they are combined with additional physical activity.
Even more surprising, standing for 10 hours a day burns more than 600 calories, which is equivalent to the energy expenditure of a 6-mile walk.
Common sense suggests that standing is better for your health than sitting and that movement is even better than standing.
In this same study, 2 hours of seated station time was replaced by 2 hours of travel time. Those who had benefited from this change showed an 11% lower body mass index (BMI), a 7.5 cm lower waist circumference, 11% lower plasma glucose levels and 14% lower triglyceride levels.
Article source: mercola.com