To improve your health, stand not sit

By Brandie Umar - Executive Director of Content | August 10th, 2010

Sitting down for an additional one hour a day could have negative effects on your health, according to the American Heart Association. Research found that men and women who spent the majority of their time sitting were more at risk of cardiac problems and heart disease than people who intersperse periods of sitting with standing. Not only does sitting cause increased risk of heart complications as blood flow can slow but sitting down also leads to weight gain and further strain on the heart.

Commonly, healthy living advice has recommended 30 minutes of vigorous exercise a day. According to the latest research 30 minutes of vigorous exercise, while beneficial to overall well being, does not counteract all negative health effects of sitting down. Most people exercise to keep their weight within a healthy range.

Exercising speeds up the metabolism and helps the body break down fat, reducing overall body weight and improving muscle mass. Sitting down prevents the body from utilizing the ability o keep the metabolism ticking as rapidly; even people who raise their metabolism effectively with a morning run, loose the benefits as the metabolism slows down again after prolonged periods of sitting.

Increasing the amount of hours spent standing or actively moving could lower the risk of dying from cardiac related death by as much as 37%. Women who were sedentary for more than 3 hours a day almost doubled their risk of cardiac related mortality and while for men the risk was lower, cardiac-related death risk rose 18% in 3 hours of sitting.

Changing lifestyles to include more standing is not always easy and many people have office jobs requiring sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day, however factoring in small changes can make a big difference. Instead of eating lunch at the desk,take 10 minutes to walk around and increase the amount of fat burning lipoprotein lipase present in the blood. Lipoprotein lipaseis only produced when leg muscles tense so be sure to walk or stand frequently. Moving from a sitting to standing position can benefit the muscles in your back, improving posture and relieving back pain and sleep studies have shown that people are less likely to loose concentration and hid a mid-afternoon stump if regular intervals of exercise are undertaken. Simply incorporating 5 minutes standing time into an hour of sitting can dramatically improve your overall health and keep the heart healthy.

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