SIT LESS, MOVE MORE (often)!

GREG SPINDLER, LMT, CSBE

You may have heard the phrase, sitting is the new smoking or sitting disease. How about this one, sitting kills, moving heals?  Yes, there is growing concern about how much time we spend sitting each day. We now average more than 75% of our day on our bottoms. Scared “Sitless” should be your reaction. Why? There are negative health consequences from sedentary behavior or by spending too much time in a chair.  We are now living 30 years longer than we were 100 years ago, but are we healthier? In a chair, healthier?

Research now shows that daily exercise doesn’t erase the effects of the sedentary office job or lifestyle of sitting 8-12 hours per day. A once-a-day exercise plan does not substitute for the more spontaneous movements that our ancestors did before today’s high tech age. Health’s foundation is truly about moving more often. This helps provide a physiological baseline on which to add strength and endurance exercise. Your body is designed to move, and every time you sit, it is counting the minutes to do so again.

To illustrate the point, imagine an astronaut weightless in space. Microgravity, the pull of gravity is gone. What would happen if the astronaut didn’t move? In space, NASA proved that bone density is lost due to lack of gravity exposure. Circulation of blood is not challenged, and the heart becomes weaker. The lymphatic system is suppressed and sluggish. To maintain health, NASA’s Dr. Joan Vernikos (former director of Life Sciences Division) had their astronauts move more than 4 hours a day. It wasn’t done all in one workout session, but throughout the day as much as possible. The more they moved, the healthier they were. Furthermore, the recovery time once back on Earth was easier against the constant 1G of force we all experience.

Now back on Earth in a hospital setting, bedridden individuals have to have medical staff move them, or additional negative health consequences exacerbate their initial problem.  Atrophying muscles can be seen with the naked eye. Metabolism reduces to a snail’s pace. Skin color and integrity become weak and the skin sags. Digestive performance declines as does accompanying waste expenditure. This can also be observed in the homebound individual who goes from bed to couch/recliner to bed each and every day.

Prolonged sitting is much like the description above.  It’s just happening to a different degree and, if not interrupted in a timely manner, we can expect more than just poor posture. Health and performance decline.

Sitting causes the spine to compress. This can result in disc degeneration and possible nerve impingement. Sitting poorly for hours on end magnifies this, leading to premature aging of the spine.

This can also impact the Respiratory System. Breathing becomes shallower after continued slouching, and lack of oxygen is the result! This is not good for brain function or workplace productivity.

Research says there is an increased risk of developing Diabetes when we sit too much. Moving causes your muscles to release molecules like lipoprotein lipase, which helps process the fats and sugars you eat. When you spend most of your day sitting, the release of these molecules is lessened greatly. As if that were not enough, it also leads to dreaded weight gain.

Sitting for long periods of time impacts circulation and causes blood to pool in the legs. This can lead to varicose veins or the smaller spider veins.

For the growing child under 20, we have, unfortunately, pushed them into this chair society. Technology hasn’t helped as we use phones, laptops, video game systems, and more to idle freeform play. Research into children’s strength and balance compared to those of the early 1980s showed that 1 out of 12 had normal strength and balance. Many children today are walking around with an underdeveloped vestibular (balance) system because of limited movement. In order to develop a strong balance system, children need to move their bodies in all directions for hours each day.  It is unlikely that soccer practice once or twice a week is enough to develop a strong sensory system. Kids’ growing bodies need to run, climb, and crawl around (even when it’s annoying to adults). It impacts muscles, bones, balance, and a healthy release of hormones, all of which lead to health into adulthood.

We must understand that health is different from fitness and exercise. For the child, the purpose of play isn’t to become fit. It is the body’s way (or nature’s way) of establishing a foundation of health for the future. “Smart Moving” for adults is for regulation or resetting of many physiological components. Many people visit their doctor to have physicals with poor results. This should be no surprise after commuting in the car, sitting for 30 minutes in chair in the waiting room. The results can be misleading because you should not measure a body’s health after prolonged sitting.

The majority of our retired senior population has also succumbed to the technology age and its resulting increase in sitting time. Instead of filling the extra time with a job, volunteering, exercise classes, gardening, and household activities, it is easier to avoid doing anything until it becomes difficult to move at all. This sets the stage for that fall with a fracture from which recovery is difficult.  What has happened is the deprogramming of vestibular balance much like the problems in children. Stay strong seniors, move more!

Now you know that simple everyday moving is the foundation of health. At the workplace, school, or while you are watching Netflix, get up and move for 20-30 minute segments. Stand up 32 to 36 times per day from the seated position, and fight the desire to sit down so quickly.

Set a timer if you need a reminder. Walk around, climb some stairs, or do jumping jacks. Do some squats. Reach the arms up, back, and forward, and in all different directions to “unstick” the shoulders. Do some heel raises. Circulate your wrists and ankles. Flex the elbows. Flex, extend, and rotate the head. Rotate your thoracic spine.

You may be surprised by how you feel for your daily workouts or weekend warrior events if you just moved a bit more throughout each and every day. Be creative! Sit Less, Move More!