Is sitting the new smoking?  Despite the hyperbole, WYogiLee thinks it is time to quit the sit.

Stand up while you are reading this.  Unless you are like my grandfather, and read this in the toilet.  In which case, stay seated and read on…

In 2014 Mayo Clinic’s Dr. James Levine, wrote, “Sitting is more dangerous than smoking, kills more people than HIV, and is more treacherous than parachuting. We are sitting ourselves to death.” And it stuck.  We love slogos.  So does Dr. Levine.

His statement is not correct.  Some facts for you and the good doctor.

Parachuting (or skydiving, as most of us call it) is among the least treacherous things to do –  in the US, 21 people died in 2018 sky diving last year – out of 3 million+ jumps.

In 2004-5, 14,900 people in Australia died from smoking-related illness.

In 2016, 1.9 million people around the world died from AIDs-related illnesses.

How many people die from sitting every year? Uh, zero.

While sitting might not kill you straight away, it may just kill you slowly   WYogiLe

Simply put, we were not built to sit for any extended periods of time.  Our bodies were designed for upright or flat out lying down.

Sitting increases load on the spine and discs resulting in slouching, or loss in the natural curve of the spine. Over time, this can cause changes in muscle length and affect the strength and performance of the postural muscles in the spine and shoulders. In turn, this can result in pain and predisposition to injury.

Tell that to your online gaming partner, significant other or child.  We were built to do stuff like hunt for food and forage (I do not recommend you head to your local supermarket with a knife if you wish to combat the effects of sitting on your office chair for extended periods of time, though).

The facts on sitting

Our sitting increases as we get older.  From 45 years old, we increase our sitting from 9 -10 hours a day, to up to 12 hours a day. I still can’t believe we sit even for that long before we are 45.   Where we sit doesn’t depend on how old we are, either – most popular of places to sit regardless of age are in front of the TV followed by tables or desks.

Sitting impacts the way our digestive and endocrine (immune system) works, slowing them down, causing no end (pardon the pun) of problems in these departments.  Except for those of you sitting on the loo reading this.  Probably nothing wrong with you.

Excessive sitting (what does that look like if the average time spent is 10 – 12 hours a day, I can only wonder) has been linked to health issues like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, anxiety, and depression.  The key word here is linked, which means there is some connection which is high, but not direct.  Most of these studies were on people who watched TV, and not desks.

One American study over 4 years with about 8,000 black and white adult participants, 45 years and over (it was originally designed to examine why African-Americans had a greater risk of stroke than Caucasians), took a closer look at this link between sitting and poor health.

As total sitting time increases so does early death by any cause. It held pretty constant across age, sex, marital status, race, body mass index and physical activity. Meaning that regardless of all of the reasons why YOU might be different, when it comes to excessive sitting, you ain’t.

It is part of a bigger problem…

Sitting won’t kill us like smoking, or jumping out of airplanes, however, we need to view sitting as part of the wider global problem of physical inactivity. Sitting is bad for us, staying still is unhealthy.  Incorporating regular breaks from sitting seems easier to think about and practice.  I have to remind myself, a couple of hours can swoop by.  It doesn’t take much to change up the couch potato or chair wallow, so here are my tips.

Tips to quit the sit

20-20-20 rule – Every 20 minutes, stand up and focus on a point 20 feet away for 20 seconds. Even this short break gives your spine some relief and reduces load. It will also allow the small muscles of your eyes to rest, as well as the muscles around your shoulders and neck.

Shoulder rotations – turning your head gently from side to side, and reaching both arms up overhead will reduce the negative effects of desk sitting.

Move from place to place if you are sitting for long periods of time – I am a writer, so I know it is easy to spend 8 hours in front of the laptop.  Take your work with you if you can – be truly mobile.  Head outside for fresh air, move it to the local library, you get the drift.

The antidote to sitting is….

Yoga is better than most other forms of physical exercise for back pain. Yoga is particularly adept at reducing inflammation in the body, which means it can actually stave off disease. The physical asanas of yoga were designed to help sitting for long periods of time (aka meditation). It alters your brain and your personality (something most other exercise can NOT do), rewiring yourself for health, success and a longer life.