Modern life is sedentary. In fact many people spend half their lives sitting all day. It’s a big part of the working day for most people and it could be doing serious damage to our health. You wouldn’t normally think of sitting down as a particularly dangerous activity but recent research shows that there is actually a long list of health problems that could be caused by not moving around too much. Google it! CNN referred to sitting all day as the new smoking.
If you spend all day seated at a desk (or on the couch), here are a few of the health dangers to be aware of.
Back pain from sitting all day
It probably doesn’t come as a surprise that back pain is a common problem associated with sitting all day. When you’re seated at a desk working on a computer, you easily end up hunched over, which is no good for your back.
The sitting position you adopt is important here. Always have your back straight and keep your feet flat on the floor. It’s difficult to get into that habit and your body will naturally hunch forward if that’s the way that you always sit. But if you are conscious of the way that you’re sitting and you keep correcting it, your posture eventually will adopt the proper sitting posture naturally.
You also need a decent chair that offers good back support.
Varicose veins linked to sitting all day
Varicose veins occur when the veins, usually in your legs, start to bulge and twist. The veins will appear on the surface of your skin and they can be incredibly painful if they get particularly bad.
Age and family history are the two main factors that cause varicose veins but you’re more likely to get them if you’re in the same position a lot of the time. If you’re suffering with varicose veins and the pain is particularly bad, visit this page: Pain Doctor, naked url, Vip Medical Group, Vein Treatment, Pain Relief Specialist, for more information on potential treatments for them.
Preventing varicose veins can be difficult and sometimes you’re going to get them when you get older. But if you take regular breaks to get up from your seat and move around during the day, you can negate the effects of sitting all day and potentially reduce the chances of varicose veins from happening.
Desk jobs lead to weight gain
There’s a lot of obvious causes of weight gain like overeating and lack of exercise but there are also some hidden causes associated with weight gain.
Leading a sedentary lifestyle and sitting all day is a big contributor to unwanted weight gain. That’s because you’re only burning a tiny amount of calories while you’re seated and if that’s how you’re spending most of your time then it’s very easy to pack on the pounds. To stop that from happening you can balance things out by getting active. For example, you can do this by taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking your car further away from the building, walking at lunchtime or doing desk exercises. Or you can hit the gym after work.
Do you know that there are plus-sized gyms where exercise may be more suited to your beginner level of fitness? You might also like restorative yoga if you have mobility or flexibility problems or beginner yoga for bariatric patients.
Living larger than ever,
My Bariatric Life
