Sitting too long affects your health, How?

The modern workplace often means sitting for much of the day in front of a computer. In fact, an average Indian spends 10 hours a day sitting. All this sitting can have a negative impact on our health by causing a sore back, stiff joints, weight gain and more

Effects of Prolonged Sitting

In a sitting position, you use less energy than you do when you stand or move. Sitting for long periods of time slows the metabolism of the body.  It can also seem to increase the risk of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Health risks of sitting at a desk all day

Most of the people spend over eight hours sitting down each and every day. Long-term sitting can have both  short and long-term effects on your health and body.

  • Weak legs:  By sitting throughout the day, you are not relying upon on lower body muscles to hold up. This leads to the weakening of these muscles. Without strong leg and glute muscles, your body is at risk of injury.
  • Tight Hips and Bad back: Your hips and back will suffer from prolonged sitting. If you don’t use an ergonomic chair or have bad posture,  your seated position hurts your back.
  • Varicose Veins: Prolonged sitting can cause blood to pool in the legs, which can lead to spider veins or varicose veins, a smaller version of the former.  These veins are not harmful. In rare cases, they can lead to more serious conditions, like blood clots.
  • Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT): This is a type of blood clot that is common in legs. This is an emergency that can lead to major complications. Even sitting too long for a road trip can also cause DVT.
  • The Stiffness of Shoulders: As with legs and lower back, your shoulders and neck will also suffer from long-term sitting, particularly if you are stuck with overlooking of a computer screen.
  • Poor blood circulation: Sitting for long periods of time slows down the blood circulation in legs which results in swelling in ankles.
  • Disk damage: People who sit more are at greater risk for herniated lumbar disks issues which result in chronic pain in the spine.
  • Inflexible Spine: When we sit for a long time, the discs in the spine are squashed unevenly.

Sitting too long can kill you even if you exercise daily. Prolonged sitting may increase the risk of diabetes, cancer and shorter life spans.

Side effects of sitting too long

  • ● Weight gain
  • ● Heart diseases
  • ● Chronic body pains and Weekend Muscles
  • ● Brain damage
  • ● Anxiety and Depression
  • ● Cancer
  • ● Increased Blood Pressure
  • ● Increased Blood Pressure
  • ● High Blood sugar
  • ● Excess body fat around the waist
  • ● Abnormal Cholesterol levels

Any extended sitting such as at a desk or in front of a screen can be harmful.

Sitting too long can cause pain in the areas of buttocks, leg and lower back

Sitting too long pain buttocks

You have been sitting too long, to the sharp shooting pain of sciatica.  pain in the buttock area can be caused by lower back or thigh muscles or by buttock structures

Sitting too long leg pain

Leg pain can have many causes, but if your pain or aching is after prolonged sitting may lead to chronic venous disease.

Know the right ways to sit and prevent many health issues at budding stage itself.