Sitting Is The New Smoking

By now many of us are well aware of the adverse effects of sitting for extended periods of time.  If you've had the experience of a long-haul flight, you know exactly what I'm referring to.  We sit in a confined space with a chair that is ergonomically poor and are expected to stay virtually still in our seats for countless hours. Unless, of course, we need to use the restroom and have the ability to crawl over our neighbor or we wish to move and take a lap of the plane.  On top of that, the food may be high in sodium, low in fiber and alcohol is often free on long-hauls...we have a recipe for swollen legs, poor circulation, lousy digestion and stiff joints.   
The above scenario is an extreme example of what sitting for long periods of time can look like.  In fact, on one of my recent trips I heard someone state that "sitting is the new smoking" and I thought, "wow...we've come a long way in educating the general public about the hazards of smoking, can we do the same for inactivity?"

In a June 2014 report from NBC News, it was cited that sitting 
raises the risk of disability, diabetes, heart disease and cancer, not to mention obesity.  And research also shows that even if you hit the gym or the jogging path every day, sitting is bad for you.

A new study puts some precise numbers on the different types of cancer that might be associated with what too much sitting around can do. For every two hours spent sitting in front of the computer or television, the average person raises his or her risk of colon cancer by 8 percent, of endometrial cancer by 10 percent and of lung cancer by 6 percent.

Really!  Cancer from sitting?  No wonder it's being spoken about in the same breath as cancer from smoking.  It actually doesn't seem that surprising as having a sedentary lifestyle that has intermittent bouts of movement is a reflection of a broader picture of ill-health in our culture.  We eat more than we need, we buy more than we can use, we work longer hours than most developed nations and we have stress levels that are reflected in our inability to manage it except through self-medicating whether it be via prescribed or over-the-counter drugs, alcohol, self-abuse or food.  We are too worn out to move out of our own couches and with technology, so many of us spend countless hours facing a screen.  And it's beginning to reflect similar health risks as seen in smokers.
  
In an article published in Runner's World, July 2013,they report that "Up until very recently, if you exercised for 60 minutes or more a day, you were considered physically active, case closed," says Travis Saunders, a Ph.D. student and certified exercise physiologist at the Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group at Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario. "Now a consistent body of emerging research suggests it is entirely possible to meet current physical activity guidelines while still being incredibly sedentary, and that sitting increases your risk of death and disease, even if you are getting plenty of physical activity. It's a bit like smoking. Smoking is bad for you even if you get lots of exercise. So is sitting too much."

Our bodies are meant to move.  That's how we evolved...through locomotion and "doing the locomotion".  While hunting and gathering wo sat when we were tired, ate when food was available and slept in quiet dark caves.  We are a far stretch from those ancestors and it's likely to get worse, unless we begin to equate that being sedentary is as big of a risk as smoking.  

Even with consistent exercise we need to interrupt long periods of sitting still.  How this translates is to take frequent movement breaks throughout the day in addition to your regular bouts of exercise. The benefit of yoga in this overall picture is that it gives us opportunities to move in ways that counteract the forward position of sitting.  Yoga is one antidote to our seated dilemma.  Get on your mat, find your breath, open your arms wide to expand your chest and find non-pharmaceutical ways to help manage your stress. Yoga is one way and when you do it with like-minded, health seeking people, it fulfills that other benefit of staying socially connected.

Now's the time...stand up, step out the door and roll out your mat! Your health will thank you!