One hour exercise offsets health risks of prolonged sitting: Study

One hour exercise offsets health risks of prolonged sitting: Study: A typical day for many people includes at least 8 hours of sitting - driving to work, sitting in an office, driving home, and watching TV.
An international study of over 1 million people shows that 1 hour of moderate physical activity can eliminate the health risks associated with sedentary behaviour.

Only extreme sitting linked to increased heart disease risk | Fox News

Only extreme sitting linked to increased heart disease risk | Fox News: Compared to sitting for less than three of one's waking hours each day, more than 10 hours of sedentary time was tied to an 8 percent increase in risk for developing heart disease.

"Our findings suggest that sedentary time is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, independent of other potential risk factors such as body mass index and physical activity, only at very high levels," said lead author Dr. Ambarish Pandey of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas

Eight Hip Stretches That Counter the Effects of Sitting All Day

Eight Hip Stretches That Counter the Effects of Sitting All Day

The Small Change to Combat the Dangers of Being Sedentary

The Small Change to Combat the Dangers of Being Sedentary





Though there have been research published previously on the dangers of being sedentary, a new report by the University of Miami suggests more actions that those in the workforce can take to counteract the negative effects of excessive sitting. This report suggests replacing one regular meeting per week with a walking meeting, allowing employees to have increased high-intensity physical activity and having an overall positive effect on the workers’ health.

Sitting or Standing at Work: The Benefits and Risks

Sitting or Standing at Work: The Benefits and Risks

Pretty good advice. One of the only articles I have seen that both mentions the dangers of prolonged standing and gives advice on how to mitigate it.

"For Standers (eg doctors, family nurse practitioners, teachers, wait staff, hairdressers)
Like with sitting, experts recommend frequent breaks—every 30 minutes or so—to help temper the negative impact of prolonged standing.

1. Alternate seated and standing work activities, if possible

1. Change your position frequently

1. Ensure that your workstation is set to the proper height and distance

1. Invest in supportive, high-quality footwear

1. Consider using a saddle chair (combines sitting and standing)"

How Boost Your Metabolism

Stand up. Now walk. You have just had a positive effect on your metabolism. Standing and walking take more energy than sitting. 

The next question is: how much standing and walking are needed to create change in your metabolism? We’ve written an entire book to answer that question but here are some brief ideas.

Take breaks from sitting

Taking breaks from sitting re-sets the five measures of metabolism of the body improving cholesterol, triglycerides, waistline, blood sugar and blood pressure.

How often? In general those who take the most breaks during the day had better biomarkers for metabolism and a lessened risk for heart disease and diabetes. Even standing up for one minute might help lower the risk for metabolic syndrome notes researcher Dr. Geraldine Healy.

Preferable is taking a break in sitting every 20 minutes of two minutes with movement or walking in place. Not only is metabolism elected but so too are muscles, tendons and joints stretched out of place by sitting too much. 

Fidgeting

It turns out that the positives and negatives of sitting are not as simple as counting time spent doing it. What one does while sitting is important too. Research suggests fidgeting while sitting may be beneficial to metabolism.

According to one study, “Fidgeting is typically defined as involving small movements, especially of the hands and feet, often through nervousness, restlessness, or impatience. … The current results suggest that more complex movements of the hands and feet may be important to measure, in addition to level of physical activity (sitting time).”

Fidgeting expends more calories than sitting still—118 calories an hour versus 80. Calorie consumption is linked to metabolism with more calories indicating more demand on metabolism. Research results showing sitting while reading or using a computer is less impactful on metabolism. It could be the benefit of intellectual stimulation while sitting.

Previous research about fidgeting while sitting showed those who sit motionless consume 80 calories an hour while those who fidget while sitting consume 118

Take steps to be impact metabolism

For every 1,000 steps taken during or 30 minutes of lifestyle activities of daily living (cooking, washing dishes, ironing, and other routine tasks at home or work done while standing or walking), there is a reduced risk for elevated measures of metabolism. 

• Reduces the risk of elevated triglycerides by15%

• Reduces the risk of low HDL (good cholesterol) by 12%

• Reduces the risk of elevated waist circumference (more than 40” for men and 35” for women) by 16%

• Reduces the risk of metabolic syndrome by 13%

(People with metabolic syndrome (abnormal measurements for three of the five metabolic biomarkers) are two to three times as likely to develop cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes; twice as likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke and more than three times as likely to die early from those causes. Those with metabolic risk factors in middle age have poorer cognitive function, suggestive of dementia or Alzheimer’s later in life.)

• No association was found between lifestyle minutes or steps and levels of blood pressure or glucose.

Lessen uninterrupted sitting time especially television watching time
Consider how much time you spend sitting while watching television, talking or texting on the cell phone, playing video games or surfing the Internet. 

One study found that each hour of television viewing increases the risk of metabolic syndrome by: 21% for women and 26% for men.

Another study found that men with more than four hours per day screen time (television, computer, playing video games) outside of work have:

• 94% higher odds (virtually double) of having metabolic syndrome
• 88% higher odds of elevated waist circumference
• 84% higher odds of low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C)
• 55% higher odds of high blood pressure
• 32% higher odds of elevated glucose

Compared to women who sit less than 1 hour per day watching television and using the computer outside of work, those who sit more than 4 hours per day and do not exercise have a 54% higher odds of metabolic syndrome.

Un-Sit Your Life http://tinyurl.com/un-sit-your-life

Move and Use More Calories

Move — and you use more calories. Not exactly surprising news. But, did you know little things done throughout the day can add up to help with your weight?

If you’re counting the calories of the food you eat, consider counting the calories you use.

• At work take a 5 minute break from sitting every 1/2 hour and you’ll use up 132 calories over an 8 hour day.
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator and you’ll use 5 more calories per flight. You consume half that number walking down a flight. 
• Rocking in a rocking chair as you watch television, for example, doubles the calories you use just sitting there: 150 calories in an hour versus 80 just sitting still.
• Fidget while sitting (reading, computer work, moving hands and foot tapping) you’ll use 118 per hour versus 80 sitting still.
• Fidget while standing (walking around, answering telephones, folding sheets, interacting with a pet) and you’ll use 148 calories per hour versus 87 standing still.
• When the commercial comes on during your television viewing, stand up and walk in place or walk around the house. You’ll use 70 more calories in an hour.
• Get a wearable fitness tracker or use your SmartPhone to track your steps every day. Add 2,00 steps to your normal day to maintain your weight. Take 10,000 steps/day and you’ll lose 10 pounds in 8 months by taking.

Most of all, as you move be aware you’re doing something that is beneficial. Such mindfulness helped motel maids lost an average of two pounds at the end of a month. In addition, their blood pressure dropped an average of 10 points.