How many hours did you sit each day this week?
For many of us, it is more than we'd like. Or at least, more than we think is good for us. Exercise offsets some of the negative consequences of sitting. However, it seems that there is a point at which the positive benefits of exercise are reduced by the negative effects of sitting, and sitting, and sitting some more. New research quantifies it in cardiovascular mortality risk. I took a look at the research to share with you. If you aren't experiencing the results or benefits of your workouts, your other-hours activity might be the problem. As I have asked many clients over the years, what is your activity like for the OTHER 23.5 hours of the day?
Do you ever wonder why you just want to sit more the more you sit? Our biochemistry is maximized to handle the challenges and uncertainty that come from living, which is a great thing for people with real food insecurity or in times of trauma and danger. Our biology is designed to make us survive. Since most of us lack the necessity to move for our food or shelter, we need to upgrade our actions in order to intersect our modern, sedentary world with our human design... our health and happiness depend on it.
"Not feeling like it" is not a problem in itself, it is just what we have to step over to get started. It doesn't mean that we are lazy, it means that we are wired to resist changing state from resting to moving, unless jolted by fear and stress to move because we need to survive. Inertia is real and it applies here. When in motion, it is easier to stay in motion. When at rest, we tend to want to stay at rest.
It becomes a problem when we get stuck in the story of not feeling like it or we imagine how miserable it will feel to start. This creates delay and then we run out of time. Again. Forgive yourself and let's move on to fire up some necessity!
At a certain point, it turns out that sitting offsets the physical and mental health benefits of exercise. You might want to read that sentence again. As a consistent exerciser it is easy to think that the discipline and effort of working out is enough to keep us in good health no matter what else we do. It turns out there is a limit to how much we can sit and stay healthy.
A meta-analysis was just published that looked at both sedentary time and screen time with their associations to Cardiovascular disease (CVD). They concluded that being sedentary for over 10 hours/day significantly increased the risk of CVD, as did screen time of 5-6 hours/day. (For some of us the screen time number might be more challenging than the sitting time as we set goals to reduce both!) Being physically active seems to help offset the effects of sitting until we get to 10 sedentary hours/day. Other studies* have similar conclusions that 10 hours/day of sedentary time leads to greater risk of CVD.
Chronic sitting begets more chronic sitting... inertia. It can take a purposeful effort to get up and move throughout the day, especially if you have to break away from computer work that feels necessary to complete. While this is an understandable dilemma, what is more important to you? Feeling better and being healthier, or sitting for hours without breaks? Productivity and focus tend to increase after moving, as does happiness. The best practice for your life and your health is to take breaks every hour or so to move. My clients often set an alarm to remind them to get up and move throughout the day. What would help you? If you don't have to get up and go somewhere, find a way to remind yourself that movement matters, including for your mood. (I like to apply some joy here with a fun song or a reminder that you are awesome in some way, because why not?)
Not surprisingly, chronic sitting also results in a greater tendency towards depression. The studies again demonstrate that 10 hours/day of sitting is the breaking point related to depressive symptoms. This is shown even with higher levels of physical activity. Up to that point, increasing physical activity seems to offset depressive symptoms even with sedentary behavior. (No physical activity combined with sedentary behavior is clearly the highest risk.)
What really becomes clear is that exercising AND movement breaks throughout the day lead to a healthier and happier life. I have said for years that energy breeds energy. If you'd like more energy, generate it by moving more.
I challenge you to do an activity audit!
While 10 sitting hours might seem like a lot, you may be surprised by the number of hours you spend sitting in a day. (Perhaps a screen-time audit is necessary as well?) Check it out, refrain from judgement or criticism, and decide what you will do this week to make it even better than last week. You know you can expect inertia, so be prepared to simply step over the resistance and start moving. Then spend the next week taking intentional movement breaks, like walking down the street or around your office or house for a few minutes each hour.
Perhaps the outcome is a better-feeling day, week, and life!
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