Sit Less + Move More = Live Longer

Sitting for long periods of each day has been shown to be poor for our health. A 2018 study found that the average American adult spends around 9 hours per day sitting, primarily due to many jobs becoming more and more dependent on computers. The same study found that those who sat less than four hours per day had far fewer adverse health effects compared to those who sit for more than eight hours per day. The health problems linked to excessive sitting are numerous and include cardiovascular disease such as heart attack and stroke, type II diabetes, and even cancer. The bottom line is that the more we sit every day, the higher our chance of dying prematurely.

There are a few tips we can try to limit the amount of sitting we do, especially at work:

Get up and walk for lunch and tea breaks

• Eating at your desk is a sure way to stay inactive for longer

Use a smaller cup for your water or coffee

• A smaller cup means you’ll need to get up for refills more often

Make things a little inconvenient at your desk

• Make sure that the coffee machine, printer, and wastebasket are out of reach, that way you’ll need to hop up more often

Drink plenty of water

• This is good advice anyway but will also cause you to head to the bathroom a little more frequently

Set a timer to remind you to hop up every once in a while

• Or, make a deal with yourself to stand up every time you hit “send” on an email or receive a call

Stand or even exercise while you work!

• Standing desks, under desk cycling machines, and even desk treadmills

Even with the help of the above tricks, let’s face it, most of us will still be sitting longer than is optimal for our health. There is good news, however: Exercise can cancel out some of our sitting time! A recent study of almost 150 000 participants demonstrated the same scary effects of excessive sitting but they also found that moderate-to-vigorous physical activity doses which met the current recommendations attenuated or effectively eliminated the increased risk.

As usual, exercise seems to be the best medicine. Keep moving!

Dr Jarrad Van Zuydam | Sports Physician