If you are an entrepreneur who sits all day at a computer or you work in an office where you sit all day, let’s look at the question “is sitting all day bad for health?”
When you are young, you won’t notice it as much, but it definitely catches up with you as you get older. Some of the signs include stiffness when standing up after sitting for a while, sore or stiff neck, achy back, sore hands, and tired eyes.
So, Is Sitting All Day Bad For Health?
If you work from home, you could be suffering from a common ailment. It’s called ‘computer addict’s syndrome.’ It is caused by a lack of activity, sitting for hours on end staring at the screen in front of you with the bad posture that goes with it.
So yes, if you are still wondering is sitting all day bad for health, it is very bad for your long term health.
If you live a sedentary lifestyle, you have a higher chance of being overweight, developing type 2 diabetes or heart disease, and experiencing depression and anxiety.
The less sitting or lying down you do during the day, the better your chances are for living a healthy life.
Believe it or not, humans are actually built to stand upright. All our organs work better this way, as well as our digestive tract. If you sit too much you end up retaining fat and sugar in your body as the digestive system isn’t as effective. This causes you to gain weight over time.
Sitting for long periods can lead to weakening and wasting away of the large leg and gluteal muscles. These large muscles are important for walking and for stabilizing you. If these muscles are weak you are more likely to injure yourself from falls, and from strains when you do exercise.
Your hips and back will not support you as well if you sit for long periods. Sitting causes your hip flexor muscles to shorten, which can lead to problems with your hip joints and lower back.
Sitting for long periods can also cause problems with your back, especially if you consistently sit with bad posture. this causes poor spine health like compression in the discs which can be very painful.
I am a dancing teacher, and I also run an affiliate marketing business from home. Like many of you, I also tend to get locked in front of the computer from time to time. I have some wonderful easy exercises that you can do without tearing yourself away from your obsession.
First of all, and most importantly, you need to concentrate on your posture. The worst thing you can do for your body is sit slouched and stationery for hours at a time. We weren’t designed to do that. We were designed to stand up straight and move.
Let’s talk about your posture.
The one on the right is not ideal!
Make sure that the chair that you are sitting in has good support for your back, preferably at 90 degrees. Even better, sit on an exercise ball, and this forces your core muscles into play as your body has to constantly work to stabilize itself.
Feel as though somebody is pulling you up from the crown of your head, straightening out your spine, and lengthening up the sides of your torso. Pull your shoulder blades down and back. Keep your head balancing lightly at the top of your neck and make sure that the computer screen is almost level to or slightly lower than your eye line. Don’t let your chin jut out, by dropping your head slightly so you feel the back of your neck lengthening. While sitting like this, work on that tummy by just lifting and tightening the muscles slightly.
Now that is also the posture you have to think about and try to maintain while working and exercising, and it isn’t easy, as when you stop thinking about it you go back to your old lazy ways. This is a typical case of the more you do it the more natural it becomes and you can slowly start getting rid of that old habit of slouching when sitting.
Why not try a standing desk. This will keep you active, and most of them are adjustable so you can both sit and stand throughout the day.
You could also try investing in a good office chair that lends you more support for your back.
Sitting Exercises To Try
Try to do a couple of these simple exercises at least every hour that you are sitting, or even better one or two every fifteen minutes. While focusing on these exercises, make sure that you maintain a good posture, as talked about above. Also, take deep breaths to fill your lungs and body with energy and vitality.
- Tilt head to each side a few times holding for 10 seconds on each side and finally drop the head forward and place your fingers on the back of your head and gently press head down. Feel your muscles stretching in the side of your neck, and then up the back of your neck.
- Roll your shoulders forward, up, back and down a couple of times, and then reverse.
- Stretch arms above the head, and then out to the side. Then take them as far back as they will go and try and clasp your hands together behind you to open out your shoulders. You might have to stand for this one if you are not sitting on an exercise ball.
- Cross your ankles and press them against each other. This is a great knee strengthener. Remember to cross them the other way too.
- Keeping back straight, stretch the one leg out in front of you and circle the feet in both directions, then repeat with the other leg.
- Relax forward in a seated position, letting the head drop towards the floor between your legs and just relax the arms and back. Watch out for this one if you have low blood pressure.
I find that these simple exercises help me tremendously when sitting doing my time in front of the computer. Try them and see for yourselves.
Please feel free to comment below especially if you have any other thoughts on is sitting all day bad for health.
