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Michael Anders 1 year, 4 months ago.
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Many of us spend the majority of our days sitting (sedentary) for extended durations. And unfortunately this behavior has a detrimental effect on our health.
Negative Impacts of Prolonged Sedentary Activity:
Specific negative impacts of prolonged sedentary time include:
- Cardiovascular disease ["Television viewing and risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis." Anders Grufntved, Frank B Hu (June 15, 2011)" rel="popover" data-placement="top" role="button" data-trigger="focus" data-html="true">1, "Relationship of sedentary behavior and physical activity to incident cardiovascular disease: results from the Women’s Health Initiative." Andrea K Chomistek, JoAnn E Manson, Marcia L Stefanick, Bing Lu, Megan Sands-Lincoln, Scott B Going, Lorena Garcia, Matthew A Allison, Stacy T Sims, Michael J LaMonte, Karen C Johnson, Charles B Eaton (June 7, 2013)" rel="popover" data-placement="top" role="button" data-trigger="focus" data-html="true">2]
- Metabolic syndrome ["Sedentary activity associated with metabolic syndrome independent of physical activity." Andrea Bankoski, Tamara B Harris, James J McClain, Robert J Brychta, Paolo Caserotti, Kong Y Chen, David Berrigan, Richard P Troiano, Annemarie Koster (January 28, 2011)" rel="popover" data-placement="top" role="button" data-trigger="focus" data-html="true">3, "Leisure time sedentary behavior, occupational/domestic physical activity, and metabolic syndrome in U.S. men and women." Susan B Sisson, Sarah M Camhi, Timothy S Church, Corby K Martin, Catrine Tudor-Locke, Claude Bouchard, Conrad P Earnest, Steven R Smith, Robert L Newton, Tuomo Rankinen, Peter T Katzmarzyk (December 21, 2009)" rel="popover" data-placement="top" role="button" data-trigger="focus" data-html="true">4]
- Obesity ["Television watching and other sedentary behaviors in relation to risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus in women." Frank B Hu, Tricia Y Li, Graham A Colditz, Walter C Willett, JoAnn E Manson (April 9, 2003)" rel="popover" data-placement="top" role="button" data-trigger="focus" data-html="true">5]
- Increased risk of cancer ["Sedentary behavior and cancer: a systematic review of the literature and proposed biological mechanisms." Brigid M Lynch (November 9, 2010)" rel="popover" data-placement="top" role="button" data-trigger="focus" data-html="true">6, "Objectively measured physical activity and sedentary time of breast cancer survivors, and associations with adiposity: findings from NHANES (2003-2006)." Brigid M Lynch, David W Dunstan, Genevieve N Healy, Elisabeth Winkler, Elizabeth Eakin, Neville Owen (January 25, 2010)" rel="popover" data-placement="top" role="button" data-trigger="focus" data-html="true">7]
- Increase risk of type 2 diabetes ["Television viewing and risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis." Anders Grufntved, Frank B Hu (June 15, 2011)" rel="popover" data-placement="top" role="button" data-trigger="focus" data-html="true">8]
And worst of all, it appears that engaging in moderate/extreme physical activity does not entirely offset these negative effects. So, simply going to the gym after work is just not going to cut it.
Regularly Interrupting Sedentary Behavior is Necessary
Research on the subject has shown that one of the best ways to reduce the negative impact of sitting is to regularly get up and engage in light to moderate physical activity.
Specific benefits of interrupting sedentary activity include ["Too much sitting: the population health science of sedentary behavior." Neville Owen, Geneviueve N Healy, Charles E Matthews, David W Dunstan (June 25, 2010)" rel="popover" data-placement="top" role="button" data-trigger="focus" data-html="true">9, "Effects of Interrupting Children’s Sedentary Behaviors With Activity on Metabolic Function: A Randomized Trial." Britni R Belcher, David Berrigan, Alexia Papachristopoulou, Sheila M Brady, Shanna B Bernstein, Robert J Brychta, Jacob D Hattenbach, Ira L Tigner, Amber B Courville, Bart E Drinkard, Kevin P Smith, Douglas R Rosing, Pamela L Wolters, Kong Y Chen, Jack A Yanovski (October 7, 2015)" rel="popover" data-placement="top" role="button" data-trigger="focus" data-html="true">10, "Acute effects of breaking up prolonged sitting on fatigue and cognition: a pilot study." Patrik Wennberg, Carl-Johan Boraxbekk, Michael Wheeler, Bethany Howard, Paddy C Dempsey, Gavin Lambert, Nina Eikelis, Robyn Larsen, Parneet Sethi, Jessica Occleston, Jenny Hernestuel-Boman, Kathryn A Ellis, Neville Owen, David W Dunstan (February 27, 2016)" rel="popover" data-placement="top" role="button" data-trigger="focus" data-html="true">11]:
- Improved short term metabolism function
- Improved blood sugar control
- Improved triglyceride levels
- Reduce levels of fatigue
Ideas for Integration:
The key to making sedentary interruptions a habit is to have a simple trigger and a easy to start action.
The trigger can be an hourly chime on your watch, an alert from your smart-phone or some other event that occurs at regular intervals during your sedentary time. The simplest and most straightforward trigger is an alert on your watch or smart-phone which goes off every 30-60 minutes.
The action can be a a single exercise, a short exercise routine, or a simple stretch routine. The main thing is it should be easy enough and short enough that you actually do it.
Here is an example of my trigger and action:
- Trigger: chime on my watch set to repeat every 45 minutes
- Action: jumping jacks (will add variation once it becomes a habit)
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