"Sitting Is The New Smoking."
“Sitting is the new smoking.” Have you heard this?? Are we seriously comparing sitting with smoking?? Smoking can cause diseases such as cancer, other lung diseases and heart problems, etc., etc…. The last time I checked sitting doesn’t cause lung disease…. No, but sitting for long periods of time has been proven to be less than optimal for our health. Listen folks the Industrial Revolution has come and gone. People are not working in factories and other labor intensive jobs as much anymore. More of us have office jobs and other jobs requiring us to sit 8 hours a day. Technology is hear to stay and as it improves it gets more and more integrated in our every day lives. I’m not saying technology is bad or even the real issue, but I’d bet my house we spend more time on our phones and other devices then we used to. Our TV watching experience has gotten so good why wouldn’t we sit in front of it for long periods. You can customize your shows, record them and watch them later, order movies, play games and surf the web. The list of things you can do on your TV now is endless!!! Again in moderation these things are harmless. Ah.. There’s the problem!!!! MODERATION…. In a country of endless this and more of that, moderation is slowly disappearing from our vocabulary…
I’m not going to be a hypocrite.. I actually have a sit down job in an office building. I know first hand the issues it can cause. Hey, we all have to support our family’s right? I’m not attacking sit down jobs ladies and gents. What I AM doing is letting you all know that the more we sit throughout the day the less optimal it is for our health.
So let’s talk about the issues long periods of sitting can cause. The obvious one is that we are not as active so we are not burning as many calories throughout the day. The chances of weight gain go up. I can’t tell you how many people in my office I see over the years that have gained weight because of this. Sorry but it’s true. Muscle imbalances and loss of mobility are other issues. When we sit all those muscles in our hips (hip flexors) are engaged and can become overactive.
Most of us sit at the office with our head jutted forward. We and TILS call this “upper crossed syndrome”. It is very much like what is being called “text neck”. This can cause some muscles to be overactive which in turn causes others to become underactive. This is one way we get muscle imbalances. All of these things I’ve listed can cause problems such as shoulder pain, headaches and more commonly lower back pain.
In conclusion, I understand there are times we must sit. Other times we just want to. Do yourself a favor and find ways to get up off that couch and be active. Your body with thank you for it.
