The Negative Effects of Sitting Too Long

When you sit too long it can have negative effects on your health. With today's trends towards more technology and less physical activity many of us are noticing negative changes in our bodies. We may get winded climbing the stairs. Perhaps our legs fall asleep when we watch television. Maybe your back aches when you have been on the road all day.

According to projections by the World Health Organization, they estimate that there will be 2.3 billion overweight people and 700 million obese adults worldwide by 2015. Sitting at your desk all day long and then coming home to work behind your home computer or watching your favorite shows can contribute to this negative figure.

It is estimated that an increasing number of jobs in countries with modern industries require employees to sit for prolonged periods of time. This can have a negative affect on your metabolism. After only half an hour behind your desk and your body starts to slow down. You don't metabolize fat properly and your cholesterol can go through the roof. The enzyme lipase breaks down fat so it can be stored in the muscles as fuel reserves. When we are behind our desks too long the negative effect can be that our circulations slows down and the lipase can not break down the fat. The fat keeps swimming in your blood stream until it is stored as fat or heads to your heart to clog your arteries. Recent studies have found this can be as bad for your health as smoking.

It is not all bad news. There are steps we can take to avoid the negative effects of prolonged sitting. If your work requires you to sit all day long, get up and take a short break once or twice an hour. Do a few wall push ups or some similar exercise to get the muscles moving and the blood flowing.

Check with your doctor or a personal trainer to see what sort of exercise program is right for you. Taking a long walk after work can go along way to divert the negative effects of sitting all day long. Strength training twice a week will keep our muscles fit and help us to stay trim.

Sitting all day and then coming home to sit all night can have major negative effects on our health and well being. By taking steps to reverse this process we can lose weight, lower our cholesterol, and just feel better.

Erika Gebel, "Obesity Becoming Worldwide Health Threat."http://www.america.gov
Ashley Hall, "Health Problems Caused by Sitting too Long."http://www.abc.net.au