The Dangers of Living a Sedentary Lifestyle

Current health ideology revolves around three pillars, being diet, exercise and sleep. Each one affects the others, for good and bad.

Improvements in any one area are beneficial to the others and improve overall health, wellbeing and longevity. Unfortunately, and all too often, deficiencies in any area have damaging effects on the other two aspects.

Compromises in these areas may be forced upon us by circumstance, but most often today they are the result of poor choices. This can occur because of a lack of knowledge or of critical thinking, such as letting other people or advertising determine your outcomes.

Modern research methods, including data-gathering and data-sharing, are allowing researchers to make valid comparisons between individuals, communities, societies, and lifestyles.

It has become abundantly clear that the importance of exercise at every stage of life is vital to maintaining the best possible health. Every person, to the extent that they are physically able, will benefit in every way from engaging in physical activity.

While many of our forebears may have dreamed of living lives that were less physically demanding, for many people today, the pendulum has swung too far.
Sedentary behavior is recognized as being a silent killer. Just as most dietary problems in the western world revolve around excess rather than lack, most problems relating to physical exertion are due to a lack rather than an excess.



Sedentary Behavior Affects Your Physical Health


Different circumstances, perhaps even out of your control, may have led you to live a sedentary lifestyle. If you have been sedentary for a while, it’s time to make a change! Sitting for extended hours every day is putting your health at risk. It’s actually a big risk and can lead to a reduction in your lifespan.

The problem is so serious that the World Health Organization has warned about the dangers of physical inactivity, saying that millions of premature deaths every year can be attributed to a sedentary lifestyle.

Source: https://www.who.int/news/item/04-04-2002-physical-inactivity-a-leading-cause-of-disease-and-disability-warns-who

What Are The Risks of Sedentary Behavior to Your Physical Health?

Being sedentary can lead to a wide range of physical health issues, including some of the following.

Leads to Obesity

A sedentary lifestyle affects your metabolism and reduces your ability to control blood sugar levels. When you regularly don’t move actively, your body responds by slowing down the rate at which it utilizes or metabolizes available blood sugar.

You burn fewer calories, so you gain weight because your body retains the fat and sugar. Unfortunately, a sedentary person is also more likely to consume more calories than is needed to power their body through their day. This is the double whammy that contributes to obesity and too often, Type 2 diabetes.

Affects Heart Health

Sitting for extended hours can increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Your body’s ability to regulate blood pressure declines, and as you gain weight, your heart has to work harder.

Bones and Muscles Become Weaker

Physical activities strengthen the bones and muscles, and if you are sedentary, it has the opposite effect. It makes muscles weaker. Your bones also lose mineral content, making them weaker and more easily broken.

The lack of enough physical load on the skeleton can lead to osteoporosis, and prolonged sitting shortens your hip flexor muscles and causes hip joint pain.
If you have poor posture, your back will suffer and your spine health may degenerate prematurely.

Weakens the Immune System

When you have an inactive lifestyle, your immune system can get weaker, making you vulnerable to infections and illnesses. You can also develop chronic inflammation in various parts of the body.

Leads to Poor Blood Circulation

Sitting for long hours prevents your blood from properly circulating. The blood remains in your legs and feet longer than it should. Your legs can swell and cause other health problems too.

When the blood doesn’t circulate properly, it means that other parts of your body are also deprived of oxygen and nutrients.

Increases Risk of Developing Type 2 Diabetes

Physical inactivity doubles your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Sedentary behavior makes your body more insulin-resistant, so your blood sugar levels remain elevated. A lack of exercise and poor diet are the biggest contributors to the development of type 2 diabetes.

Leads to Cancer

A sedentary lifestyle can contribute to some types of cancer, such as colon cancer and breast cancer. Higher blood sugar levels have been associated with increased risks of some cancers.

What Can You Do to Avoid Sedentary Behaviors?

Sitting for long hours can affect your physical health significantly, and it can be challenging to fit in exercise workout routines.
Whether you don’t feel like it, or you are a person chained to an office desk and always busy, you need to exercise. If you can get moving it will help decrease your risks of developing diseases, such as those mentioned above.

Here are some tips to get you moving more and prevent sedentary behaviors.

* When working, stand up every after 20 minutes and walk around for a minute or two.
* Stretch and exercise every day.
* Take the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator.
* Do standing or walking meetings.
* Park your car a little farther from the building entrance.
* Ride a bicycle or walk to work.
* Don’t sit after meals.
* Take a walk after lunch.
* Stand up during coffee breaks.
* Walk around while taking phone calls.
* Track your daily steps and try to double your current record. Keep upping your score until you achieve your desired number of steps every day.
* Invest in a standing work desk.

If you add a few minutes each day to your routine, it won’t be long before you have made the time needed to fit exercise into your schedule. Those few extra minutes each day added to your daily physical activities can help you counter the effects of a sedentary lifestyle.

Make conscious efforts to move more and avoid sitting for long hours. Track your activities and monitor your progress.

If you’ve been sedentary for too long, don’t shock your body by doing an hour of exercise suddenly. Set incremental goals and start small.

Sedentary Behavior Affects Your Emotional Health

There’s a strong connection between your body and mind.

* Whatever happens to you physically can affect your mental and emotional state.
* Keep your body active and strong, and you’ll help to have a clear and sound mind too.
* Resort to sedentary behaviors and your body weakens along with your mental and emotional health.
The Effects of Sedentary Lifestyle on Emotional Health

Sedentary behaviors can cause mood swings, stress, anxiety, and depression. People who tend to watch a lot of television, or lay around for extended periods are more likely to be depressed than those who move more frequently and regularly.

One of the reasons for this is that lack of physical activities can affect your sleep, and sleep disorders are common symptoms of mental health issues.

Lack of sleep makes you irritable, impatient, and sensitive. It increases your negative moods, such as anger, sadness, and frustration.

You may overreact over small things, such as when plans don’t go your way. Even when something good happens, poor sleep makes you feel as if you have no energy so you can feel less excited or happy about it.

Sedentary behavior causes poor blood circulation. If you’re sitting for extended hours, the blood stays in your legs and feet and your upper body is deprived of an optimal supply of oxygen and nutrients.

When there is compromised circulation, it affects the regions in the brain that regulate your stress reactions and control your mood and motivation.

If you’re too sedentary, you can develop self-deprecating thought patterns. You may think of yourself in negative ways. It makes it difficult to see the brighter side of things and you feel less fun and vibrant.

A lack of physical activities makes your brain release more cortisol (stress hormones), which influences your fight or flight response. You can then find it hard to manage your emotions effectively.

How to Prevent Being Sedentary to Improve Emotional HeaSedentary behavior can impact your emotional health negatively, but you can do something about it before it gets worse. Take care of your mental and emotional well-being by increasing your physical activities.

Here are some ways to do that.

Start By Making Small Changes

If you’ve been sedentary for too long but realize that it’s impacting your emotional health, don’t make drastic moves. You know you need to move more, but going from zero activity to an hour of workout every day can be counterproductive and dangerous to your health.

The key is to start making small changes so your body won’t be shocked or injured. It will also help you feel that you’re getting back in control of your life. Causing yourself extreme discomfort or pain will discourage further activity.

Engage In Small Activities

If you’re stuck at home, it’s easy to just sit around and watch TV, and before you know it, you’ve been sitting there for several hours.

Get up and find things to do around your house. There’s always a chore to do! Maybe you need to wash the dishes, wipe the dust off your ceiling fan, rearrange your bedroom cupboard, or mow the lawn and pull out the weeds, or, or, or… There is always something to do.

The movements you make to complete these chores will make a difference in getting you out of the sedentary lifestyle and improving your emotional health.
Plus, of course, you will feel better about yourself for having done what needs to be done.


Make Time For Regular Exercise

It can’t be emphasized enough. Exercise is crucial both for physical and mental health. Start with a few minutes of exercise if you’re coming from a completely sedentary lifestyle. Then gradually increase the amount and intensity of your exercise plan.

Even if you are only walking, good for you! Start by walking around the block, increasing to walking two blocks, etc. If you only do 20 minutes per day, you will be doing 140 minutes a week. Or if you start by doing only 5 minutes a day and increasing it by a couple of minutes every day, you will soon be doing a lot more than only 5 minutes per day!

Regular exercise helps strengthen your body, consequently improving your sleep and mood. Also, when you feel good about your body, you’re more in control of your emotions too.

In Summary

What happens to your body physically can affect you emotionally. Sedentary behaviors can lead to negative emotions and poor mental well-being. Lack of physical activities is linked to increased stress, anxiety, depression, and poor emotional health.

Being sedentary may feel comfortable at the time, but it’s ruining your health… slowly.

But it’s never too late!

Take small steps to make changes in your lifestyle.

* Find time to exercise.
* Walk more.
* Sit less.
* Move more and feel better.
Sedentary Behavior and Metabolic Syndrome



If you find yourself sitting all day on the couch or in front of the computer, not having the time, or making the time to exercise, then you are setting yourself up for some serious health issues long term.

Physical inactivity and sedentary behavior can lead to various health issues, one of which is metabolic syndrome.

This is important to be aware of because it can lead to serious and chronic illnesses.
Metabolic Syndrome Explained

Metabolic syndrome refers to a group of metabolic disorders, including elevated blood pressure, obesity, dyslipidemia, high blood sugar, excess fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol levels.

Several factors can increase your chances of developing metabolic syndrome, including extended physical inactivity, or sedentary behavior. Your age and ethnicity, along with other existing diseases are also contributing factors.

People who are highly sedentary are more likely to develop metabolic syndrome. It’s a chain reaction. Sedentary behaviors that result in a lack of physical activity can make you obese.

Insulin helps sugar enter your muscle cells and burn it as fuel. With insulin resistance, sugar can’t enter the cells as effectively as it should, resulting in persistently high levels of blood sugar.

When you’re obese, your body is less sensitive to insulin, which means your body has a hard time using and therefore reducing blood sugar. When you develop metabolic syndrome, it can lead to increased risks of type 2 diabetes and heart diseases. Worse, it can also cause premature death.

Why Physical Activities Are Important in Preventing Metabolic Syndrome

We know that exercise is important, yet many people still don’t bother to get up and exercise. It’s only when they experience health problems and are advised medically to do something about it, or suffer the consequences, that they do.

A lack of physical activity can increase insulin resistance and abdominal fat, leading to metabolic syndrome. Physical activities play an important role in preventing and treating metabolic syndrome.

It’s also necessary to understand your underlying risk factors so you can identify targeted intervention through physical activities.

Metabolic syndrome can cause inflammation in the body, and most of the time, that makes engaging in physical activities less desirable and even painful. However, for the sake of your health and your longevity, you must overcome that resistance physically and psychologically.

Exercise can provide many of the benefits needed to help prevent metabolic syndrome.

Here are some of those benefits of exercise.

* It regulates body fat and glucose metabolism.
* It increases insulin sensitivity.
* It lowers blood pressure.
* It increases muscle mass.
* It burns calories faster even when at rest.
* It helps reduce weight.
* It improves lipid disorders.
* It helps you sleep better.

How You Can Prevent Metabolic Syndrome with Exercise

Combating physical inactivity and overcoming sedentary behaviors are key to fighting metabolic syndrome.

If you’re transitioning from a complete lack of physical activity and a longtime sedentary lifestyle, starting with small changes is important. Begin with light exercises then move to moderate intensity.

Moderate exercises are sufficient enough to help reduce your risks of metabolic syndrome. However, you may want to do increased amounts of vigorous exercise too to see the biggest improvements.

Just remember not to go too hard too soon. It may shock and harm your body, especially your heart if you’ve been sedentary for too long and then suddenly engage in extreme physical activities.

Get Up and Start Now

Get up, start exercising, and be consistent. Stay committed to your program and know that every little movement that you do matters. Start by walking each day and remember to take as many breaks as you need.

Once you have integrated exercise into your routine comfortably, increase the duration over time and then increase intensity. Ideally, you should be able to get to a point where you can exercise for at least 30 minutes on most days of the week.

It also helps to track your progress. Use a pedometer or your smartphone’s health app. Set goals! How many steps per day do you want to walk? You may have heard of walking 10,000 steps a day.

If that sounds like a good goal for you, why not try to achieve it every day.

Don’t forget to celebrate your milestones. It will keep you motivated and committed to your goal of saying goodbye to a sedentary lifestyle and removing the risks of metabolic syndrome.











Sedentary Lifestyle Can Slow Your Metabolism



Unfortunately, many of us are stuck in an office job that requires more sitting than moving around, or if we’re at home, there are plenty of opportunities to sit on the couch or lie on the bed.

Other factors that contribute to sedentary lifestyles include a lack of available space for exercise, and an increase in available entertainment on devices, apps, and television.

Sedentary lifestyles have become a public health issue, causing various health problems, including chronic diseases. One of the most common issues arising from a sedentary lifestyle is that it can slow down and affect your metabolism.

Why Metabolism Matters

Metabolism refers to all the chemical processes that allow the body to break down molecules and synthesize compounds that the cells need to convert into energy.

Or, put another way, it’s how your food is converted into fuel. Several factors affect your body’s metabolism, such as physical activity, age, gender, and hormone function.

Metabolism allows the body to function normally, which is called homeostasis. It’s an important series of processes in the body that break down nutrients, build muscles, repair cells, and much more.

When an individual’s metabolism isn’t working properly, it disrupts essential chemical processes, leading to health problems.

Effects of Sedentary Lifestyle on Metabolism

Physical activities help the body to burn calories at a faster rate even when the person is at rest. Yes, even when you sleep you burn calories. Your body doesn’t stop working, doing what it needs to do to keep you living.

When your body regularly lacks physical activity, your metabolism slows down.

Consequently, it affects the body’s ability to properly regulate blood sugar levels and blood pressure. It also impairs the body’s ability to burn fat, reduces insulin sensitivity, and diminishes vascular function.


An impaired metabolism can lead to a range of health problems, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, musculoskeletal disorders, depression, and cognitive impairment.

You’ll know that your metabolism has likely slowed down if you experience some or all of the following symptoms:

* You’ve gained weight and can’t shed the extra pounds.
* You always feel tired even when you think you’ve had plenty of rest.
* You experience migraines or frequent headaches.
* You’re often in a bad mood.
* You seem to be forgetful.
* You always crave sugar and unhealthy carbs, such as fried foods and bread.

What to Do to Avoid Developing a Slow Metabolism

Reducing sedentary behaviors and increasing physical activities are key to improving your metabolism. We’re not even talking about comprehensive workout routines. Simple movements, such as walking and standing can help you burn calories and keep your metabolism more active too.

* Avoid sitting for long hours. When working at your computer, stand up every 30 minutes and do some stretching.
* Take a walk during your lunch break. It will also help you digest your food better.
* Engage in hobbies or sports that will get you moving around, such as gardening or golf.
* Find time for exercise every single day.
* Take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator.
* Find something to do at home, such as cleaning the kitchen, vacuuming the carpet, or changing the look of your living area.


Aside from physical activities, there are other steps you can do to avoid a slowing metabolism.

* Don’t cut down your calorie intake drastically. Do it gradually so as not to trigger a starvation response.
* Eat protein-rich foods, which help the body burn calories. Through the thermic effect, your metabolism temporarily increases after digestion.
* Get high-quality sleep. Insufficient sleep slows down your metabolism, which can lead to weight gain. Make sure you get uninterrupted sleep every night.

It’s time to make some changes and reduce the time you spend being sedentary and increase your physical activities, which can help improve your metabolism and lower the risks of many diseases. If you’re living a sedentary life, it’s time to get moving.

Start with our tips above and work your way up to a more active lifestyle and a healthier you.


Can You Still Lose Weight While Sitting All Day?



If you haven’t heard about the negative impacts of leading a sedentary lifestyle, you’re probably one of the few who haven’t. If you don’t know, being inactive causes many serious health issues, including one obvious one, and that is obesity.

Unfortunately, many of us have no choice but to do work that requires us to sit the majority of the time. That makes us prone to weight gain and the inevitable, a bulging belly.

How to Lose Weight If Sedentary

Perhaps you feel it is impossible to lose weight while you sit all day. Well, you may be happy to know you can lose weight if you are sedentary, and here’s how.

Keep Your Body Hydrated

You know that drinking water every day is important to your health, but maybe because you are not active and don’t feel extremely thirsty, you forget to drink water to keep your body hydrated. Or perhaps you only drink water at mealtimes when you feel thirsty. That’s normal but not healthy.

If you’re sitting all day while working, keeping water close is a good idea, but a better idea is to get up from your chair and walk to get a drink. If you forget, set a reminder. Or place an empty glass on your desk, so you are reminded and subconsciously will feel thirsty looking at an empty glass.

Drinking water keeps your body hydrated, makes you feel fuller, and allows your food to be digested properly. It helps you refrain from snacking if you continually sip water.

Plus, we often get signals that we’re hungry, when in fact our body craves water. So you may not be hungry at all. You are possibly dehydrated.

Keep Your Environment Cool

If you keep the temperature in your room cooler than feels comfortable, your body will need to use more energy to keep you feeling warm. As a result, you burn stored fats.

Your Choice of Drinks Matter

Avoid reaching for a soda or other sugary beverages whenever you feel a need for a boost.
Instead, drink black coffee or tea, which are rich in antioxidants and low in sugar. Ideally, skip the sugar and milk. If you don’t like tea or coffee, that’s ok, drink water instead!

Watch Your Posture and Use Your Muscles

Sitting up straight requires you to use your muscles, which means your body has to work and that equates to using energy by burning blood sugar calories or stored fat.

When you try to keep your body upright, it requires extra effort and energy, and you’re engaging your upper body, shoulders, and back muscles.

When your posture is in the correct position it has other benefits too. It makes you feel more comfortable and puts you in a better mood. That means reduced cortisol levels, which is the hormone that induces stress and fat storage.

If you are sitting all day at home, you can also use an exercise ball and swap your chair from time to time. It will help strengthen your core muscles.

If You Need to Snack Make Sure They Are Healthy Snacks

If you are stuck at a computer and sitting all day, you are still working, which makes you use energy, and that makes you feel hungry. If you are hungry, eat healthy snacks such as fruit or nuts. Just don’t eat too many. Remember to limit your portions.

Eat Slowly – Fast Eaters May Gain More Weight

Eat slowly by chewing your food carefully and savoring your meal. There are a few websites that discuss the point that fast eaters tend to gain weight more than their slower eating friends.

Here’s one source: https://consumer.healthday.com/4-6-do-you-wolf-down-your-food-speedy-eaters-may-pack-on-more-pounds-2651296382.html
Therefore, it pays to be more mindful of your eating habits. Make sure you slow down when you eat. That will give your body the time to tell your brain, ‘Hey I feel full, that’s enough food!’

Also, when you need to eat, make sure you move away from your computer or TV, as electronic distractions and advertising can make you overeat.

Do Some ‘Sitting’ Exercises

Sitting all day doesn’t mean you can’t exercise. Do a few stretches, which means you burn extra calories. Plus, it will make your muscles more relaxed and help improve blood circulation in your body.

You may also want to consider investing in desk exercise equipment like a desk swing, which makes you engage in low-level movement while working on your computer.

If you are sedentary for other reasons, such as your health, and stuck in front of a TV all day, there are plenty of exercise machines that you can use to help you burn energy and lose weight.

Final Notes

Sitting all day is a sedentary behavior that can increase your risk of developing health problems. However, if you know what to do to minimize the effects of sedentary behaviors, you can reduce the risks! So give our above tips a try.

The key is to exert more effort to move your body, which translates to burning more calories. Remember that what you eat and drink, and how you consume your food, affect your metabolism.

Choosing healthy snacks and eating mindfully can make you feel fuller with less food, so you can lose weight while sitting all day, and not gain extra weight. That’s a win-win!
Exercises and Stretches For Sedentary Seniors



As you get older, you may find it harder to move around physically. Your knees may begin to ache, your back might feel stiffer, and you may feel unsteady on your feet and worry you might fall.

The pain and worry this brings can lead to an even more sedentary lifestyle.

However, this self-preservation may only make the problems experienced now worsen over time.

You need to stay physically active no matter your age. If you’re feeling increased discomfort or pain because you’re aging, it’s all the more important to get moving, stretch your joints, and improve your balance.

Exercises and Stretching You Can Do At Home

Understandably, it can be difficult to exercise work when you’re already feeling muscle weakness, but don’t despair! If you have been a sedentary senior and want to get moving again, here’s a roundup of exercises you can do in the comfort of your living room.

Seated Knee to Chest

This is an excellent stretching exercise that you can do. The seated knee to chest exercise aims to improve the mobility in your hips and knees, as well as the flexibility of your lower back.

Sit on a chair with your feet flat on the floor. Straighten your back. Lift your right leg and grasp it with your hands, and slowly pull it as far as it is comfortable, towards your chest.

Hold the position for 10 to 30 seconds, then gently put your leg down. Repeat it with the other leg and do so alternately 10 to 20 times, or as many times as you can to start with.

You can also do a knee to chest exercise while standing, which will help improve your balance. Perhaps try this one when your muscles get stronger.

Overhead Side Stretch

This exercise aims to loosen up muscles in your back, shoulders, and abdomen. You can do it while standing or sitting, depending on your mobility. To start, raise your arms above your head, then slowly lean to your left side and hold it for 10 to 30 counts.

Repeat on the right side and do it alternately for 10 to 20 repeats. If raising your arms over your head is difficult, you can put your arms on your hips instead as you lean to your sides.

Shoulder and Triceps Stretch

If you’re experiencing stiff shoulders and muscle pain in the area, this shoulder and triceps stretch can help. It aims to loosen up the joints on your shoulders and improve their mobility. This stretching exercise can help alleviate muscle pain and prevent deterioration.

You can do this exercise while sitting or standing tall with your back straight. Let’s start with the shoulders.

Pull your right arm across your chest and below shoulder height. Grab it with your left hand, slowly feeling the stretch on your shoulder. Count 10 to 30 while holding the position, then repeat with your left arm. Do 10 repeats.

Moving to the triceps, which is what is often the flabby underarm area, raise both your arms over your head. Bend your right arm behind your head and hold your right elbow with your left hand.

Gently pull your elbow backward as you feel the stretch in your upper arm. Hold this position for 10 to 30 seconds, then repeat with your left arm. Do 10 repeats.

Hamstring Stretch

Many seniors complain of having lower back pain and weak legs. This hamstring stretch, which is the muscle in the back of the top part of your leg, targets these areas, decreasing stiffness and improving flexibility and mobility.

Sit on the floor, then extend one of your legs out. Lean forward and try to reach your thigh, knee, or ankle slowly, feeling the stretch on your hamstring. Hold it for 10 to 30 seconds while avoiding hyperextension of your hamstring. Repeat with the other side and alternate for 10 reps.

Toe Taps and Heel Raises

A sedentary lifestyle can make your feet and ankles feel stiff and weak, and the lower leg muscles even weaker. Toe taps and heel raises loosen up the joints and strengthen the lower legs and upper calves. They also help improve blood circulation in your legs.

Let’s start with toe taps. Sit straight on a chair and keep your heels on the floor. Lift your toes high and feel the stretch on your muscles along your shin, then tap them back on the floor. Repeat 20 times.

With heel raises, you keep your toes and the balls of your feet flat on the floor, then lift your heels. Repeat this 20 times.

In Summary

If you’re a sedentary senior, it’s important to increase your physical movements to alleviate any joint or muscle pain you’re experiencing. Start with light activities, such as moving around your home, walking slowly, cleaning and dusting, vacuuming, and standing up.

Stretching and balancing exercises will help boost your strength, flexibility, and mobility.

Make sure you take long strides too! Don’t take little tiny steps as you will be allowing your muscles to shrink even more, not stretch and extend as they should.




Exercises and Stretches For Sedentary Desk Workers



Many working people are sedentary partly because of the demands of their jobs, such as being stuck behind a desk all day. Unfortunately, being sedentary has detrimental effects on your health.

If you sit most of the time while you work you may experience lower back pain, shoulder pain, weight gain or obesity, neck pain, headaches, stress, carpal tunnel syndrome, and musculoskeletal disorders. Just to name a few!

The good news is that it’s not too late to establish good habits at your desk. With some exercises and stretches, you can counter the negative effects of being sedentary.

List of Exercises and Stretches You Can Do

Exercises and stretches can help improve flexibility, comfort level, muscular balance, risks of injury, and physical stress.

Here are some exercises and stretches for sedentary workers.

Stop Slouching with The Torso Stretch

How often do you catch yourself slouching? It happens even when you’re quite conscious of your posture. When you’re hunched often, you’ll start to feel pain in your lower back.

Torso exercises will stretch and strengthen your back muscles, as well as the muscles on your sides and arms.

What to do:

* Sit properly on a stable chair with your feet flat on the floor.
* Raise your arms with your fingers laced together.
* Stretched up your arms and upper body towards the ceiling.
* Take a deep breath and hold the position for 5 to 10 seconds.
* As you exhale, open your arms and bring them down to your sides slowly.
* Repeat this exercise 10 times.

Make sure you do this exercise whenever you find yourself slouching. It will create a habit of good posture.



Relieve an Aching Back with The Spinal Twist

Another way to address your aching and stiff lower back is the spinal twist. It will help release the tension and loosen up the muscles in your back.
What to do:

* Sit properly on a chair with your feet firmly on the ground.
* Rest your left arm on the back of the chair, then twist your upper body in that direction.
* Hold the position for 10 to 30 seconds while breathing slowly.
* Repeat on the side.
* Repeat 5 to 10 times on each side.

Remember to be gentle with this stretch, and go only as far as you feel comfortable without pain.

Ease Stiff Neck and Shoulders with The Shoulder Shrug

Stiff shoulders and neck are common when you have a desk job that requires you to sit for hours on end, every day. Shoulder shrugs will stretch the muscles on your shoulder and the neck, loosening the tension and getting the blood flowing.

What to do:

* Sit or stand straight and put your arms at your sides.
* Lift your shoulders towards your ears while squeezing your muscles.
* Hold the position for 2 seconds.
* Roll your shoulders backward as you relax the muscles and bring your shoulders down.
* Repeat 8 times.

Once you’ve completed this sequence, repeat the exercise with your shoulders rolling forward.

Boost Your Circulation and March on The Spot

Sitting for long hours hinders blood circulation, particularly in your lower body and legs. Marching on the spot is a simple exercise you can do anywhere. It targets your hip flexors and glutes.

What to do:

* Walk as you would normally walk, but don’t move forward.
* You can also raise your knees to make the march more energetic.
* Walk in place for 3 to 5 minutes.

Marching in place is a low-impact cardio exercise that can also help improve your balance and core stability.

Wall Sits

If there’s a good way of sitting, it is to wall sit. Wall sits help strengthen your muscles in the lower body, including your quads, glutes, calves, and hamstrings. It improves your muscular endurance and stability.

What to do:

* Stand against a wall and put your arms on your sides.
* Keep your feet shoulder-width apart.
* Slide your back down the wall and bend your knees at a 90-degree angle.
* Keep your thighs parallel to the floor.
* Hold for 30 to 60 seconds.
* Repeat 3 times.

Another benefit to wall sits is that this exercise can help tone your abdominal muscles.


In Summary

Desk jobs can make you sedentary, but with proper exercise and stretches, you don’t have to suffer from all the negative health effects. Take a break from sitting and stretch your muscles, particularly your core and lower body muscles.

There are many simple yet effective exercises you can do while sitting or standing in the office. Start with our list and integrate them into your day.




Sedentary Lifestyle Effects on Muscles



It’s far easier to slip into a sedentary lifestyle than live an active life, isn’t it?

After all, it’s nice to relax, and for most people be entertained without having to think.

So instead of taking a walk, the choice may be to watch that movie that everyone is raving about on Netflix.


What Happens To Your Muscles If You Are Sedentary?

Unfortunately, if you are someone that resorts to prolonged inactivity, you are risking your health. Your muscles are among the most affected areas of your body when you’re sedentary.

Muscle Atrophy

As people age, it’s common to develop a degree of sarcopenia or muscle loss. However, muscle loss can also happen due to long periods of inactivity, leading to what’s called muscle atrophy.

Muscle atrophy is a condition where you lose some of your muscle mass faster because you’re not using them for a long time. The body breaks down the unused muscles for energy. This makes you frailer, and you’ll eventually find it harder to balance your body.

Muscle Pain

Being sedentary can also lead to chronic pain because inactivity decreases muscle mass and strength. The most common effect is chronic back pain.

When you don’t engage in physical activities, the muscles that help you hold your weight become weak. What happens is that your spine then carries most of the weight, putting strain on it, and eventually, your discs degenerate.

Muscle Stiffness

When you don’t move around as much as you should, you can experience muscle stiffness. Have you ever woken up feeling sore and stiff? Your muscles feel tight, making it more difficult and uncomfortable for you to move than you normally do. It can be accompanied by pain or cramping.

Muscle stiffness can be prevented, but if you’re sedentary, muscle stiffness can become a regular occurrence in your life.
Muscle Weakness

A sedentary lifestyle makes you use your muscles less and less, leading to muscle weakness. Muscle weakness has a compounding effect. The weaker they get, the less you use them, until the muscles aren’t working properly at all.

What happens here is that because of the lack of use, some of the fibers in the muscles are partially replaced with fat. That makes the muscles more floppy and less ‘muscly looking’ so when you try to use the muscles, you feel tired easily.

Can You Reverse The Negative Effects on Your Muscles?

Yes, the good news is that the negative effects of prolonged inactivity on muscles can be reversed. Even when you lose muscles due to atrophy, you can gain muscle mass again. Your body remembers they are there, even if you can’t feel them!

Here are some steps to help you find them again.

Regular Exercise

Start increasing your physical activities. If you’ve been sedentary for as long as you can remember, don’t force yourself to become active in an instant. Start small and build your momentum.

You can start with stretches or walking around the block for 15 to 20 minutes a day. When you become more comfortable moving around, upgrade to brisk walking and then increase the number of minutes for your exercise.

Later, it will be safer and more comfortable for you to do moderate-intensity exercises, particularly those that are meant to build and strengthen your muscles.

Eat A Healthy Diet

With proper nutrition, you can rebuild your muscles. Make sure that every meal contains protein, which is essential in boosting your muscle mass. You also need calcium and magnesium, which are important minerals for muscle health.

Include the following foods when building your muscles.

* Lean red meat.
* Chicken.
* Fish such as tuna and salmon.
* Eggs.
* Milk.
* Nuts and other seeds.
* Bananas.
* Dark leafy vegetables.

Adding all these foods to your diet can help to improve your muscle health.

Drink Plenty Of Water

Water helps your muscles function as they should, so you need to make sure you are hydrated. Drink at least 8 glasses of water every day. If you are exercising vigorously to build your muscle mass, you may need to drink extra water to replace losses.

Dehydration during exercise can inhibit muscle repair, leading to more soreness and fatigue.

Physical Therapy

In some cases, you may need to go through rehabilitation treatment or physical therapy, especially if your condition is accompanied by other symptoms.
You should see your doctor, especially when you have pain, swelling, redness, bruising, or other medical conditions like osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

In Summary

A sedentary lifestyle or prolonged period of inactivity can lead to serious health consequences, starting with your muscles. If you don’t use your muscles, you’re going to lose them. ‘If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it!’

If you’ve experienced muscle atrophy, weakness, stiffness, or pain, it’s not too late. You can reverse the effects, no matter your age, with physical activities, regular exercise, and proper diet and nutrition.







The Benefits of Moving Your Body Every Day



You know exercise is important, but do you feel like it’s a drag?

Do you feel like you are having to make a huge commitment that will take up your valuable time when you could be doing something else… which is more fun for you?

If so, that shouldn’t be how you are thinking. You should not think of exercise as a mandatory commitment, but as a wise and healthy choice.

You also need to stop thinking there’s a minimum requirement you have to meet. Instead, think of exercise as something fun to do, and know that you have the freedom to choose how you move your body.

Start Moving and Reap The Following Benefits

Exercise is simply moving your body every day. It has huge benefits to your body literally from head to toe. If you’re looking for a bit more motivation to start exercising, here are some of the benefits of moving your body every day.

Burn More Calories and Lose Weight

Whatever you eat, your body needs to burn, otherwise, it will store the excess as fat. Exercise improves your metabolism, allowing you to use up the food you eat.

Moving your body helps burn calories and prevent too much fat from being stored. When you engage in physical activities, you burn energy. This is taken firstly from your blood sugar and lastly from your fat stores.

Increased Energy Levels

Physical activities improve your energy levels by improving blood and oxygen circulation in the body and your cardiovascular health. It also triggers the body to release endorphins, which boost your energy and enthusiasm.

Reduce Stress and Get Better Sleep

Exercise helps you get a restful sleep at night, so you’ll wake up more refreshed the next day. When you’re physically active during the day, your energy depletes, making you feel sleepy and stimulating recuperative processes when you sleep.

Exercise also improves your mood, reduces your stress, and relieves anxiety. When your stress levels are low, you sleep better.
Stronger Bones and Muscles

As you age, it’s natural to lose some of your bone mass, but with regular exercise, you can keep your bones and muscles stronger and prevent a premature decline in your bone health. Bones are living tissue and they respond to the impact of weight-bearing by improving bone density.

The same is true with your muscles. Physical inactivity will cause you to lose muscle and weaken your body. The more you use your muscles by moving around and exercising, the stronger they become. It also improves your balance, flexibility, and coordination.

Better Cognitive Health and Improved Mood

Moving your body improves your brain health. You will have better cognitive performance. Exercise improves your memory and concentration.

Exercise makes the body release endorphins, which are responsible for making you feel happy, calm, and relaxed. These chemicals also help relieve pain and boost your immune system. When you have a good sense of well-being, you’re in a good mood.

Exercise helps deliver oxygen and nutrients to the brain, stimulating the growth of new brain cells. While cognitive health declines as you age, you can prevent it from happening prematurely.

Reduced Risks of Chronic Diseases

This one is a given. We all know exercise promotes good health and reduces the risk of disease. Moving your body improves your physical health, which also reduces your risks of developing many chronic diseases.

If you engage in physical activities regularly, you have better insulin sensitivity, heart health, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels. Exercise also reduces your risk of developing type 2 diabetes and improves your immune system.
When you have a strong immune system, your body can fight off infections and diseases.

Reduced Pain

When you’re in pain, you probably don’t want to move, but that will only make things worse. Moving your body more can reduce the pain you feel now in the future. It improves blood circulation, prevents joint stiffness and muscle tightness, and reduces inflammation.

Exercise helps cut the pain-signaling loop with the brain as it triggers the release of serotonin and opioids in the central nervous system. It reduces your pain perception and increases your pain tolerance.

In Summary

Moving your body every day has a range of benefits to your physical and mental health. If you’ve been living a sedentary lifestyle, it’s time to break free from physical inactivity.

Remember, exercise doesn’t have to be a complicated commitment. Do something you love. Go dancing, running, hiking, or swimming. Every small move counts.




Sedentary Behavior Causes Fatigue and Loss of Energy



Do you feel like you have been resting pretty much most of the time, because you have been either sitting idle, lying on your bed, or watching movies on the couch, yet you still feel tired?

If you do, why is that so?

Well, perhaps it’s because what you’ve been doing hasn’t been resting at all.

It’s just you have been sedentary, and sedentary behavior causes loss of energy and ensuing fatigue. Experts recommend getting at least 150 minutes of exercise each week.

Studies have shown that those who meet this requirement have lower levels of fatigue than those who are sedentary.

Why You Feel You Have No Energy

Let’s find out how sedentary behaviors lead to fatigue and low energy.

Inactivity Makes You Prone to Weight Gain

When you don’t move around or engage in physical activities, you burn fewer calories than you consume. It leads to weight gain or worse, obesity.

When your body is overweight, you carry more weight so your body has to work harder to do tasks, even as simple as cleaning the house or climbing stairs. This is why you get tired easily.

It’s difficult to move around when you feel heavy, so it’s all the more reason why you don’t want to exercise. However, exercise can reduce fatigue and make you feel more energetic.

Inactivity Leads to Poor Sleep Quality

Sedentary behaviors make your body produce more cortisol, your stress hormone, and reduce serotonin and melatonin output which are essential for regulating your sleep. Cortisol puts your body in alert mode, which doesn’t help you get enough sleep.

You know that sleep is important so your body can rest and repair. If you don’t get quality sleep, you feel more tired the next day instead of refreshed and energized.

Inactivity Makes Your Muscles Weak

Sedentary behaviors make you move less, so you don’t use your muscles, and if you don’t use your muscles, they become weak and you become frail. With less muscle and the feeling of weakness, the lightest activities require more effort and you feel exhausted.

You need to make sure that you use your muscles to keep them strong and healthy, which will make your whole body feel strong and vibrant.

Inactivity Leads to Poor Nutrition

Sedentary behaviors can lead to overeating and poor nutrition, and if you lack physical activity, your cortisol (stress hormone) levels increase.

Stressed people tend to overeat and crave foods that are high in sugar to boost their mood and energy quickly. The instant sugar rush soon fades and they will quickly feel drained and tired again.

Eventually, you’ll gain more weight which will cause increased fatigue when you try to do your everyday tasks. You need to move around more often to keep your cortisol levels balanced and prevent unhealthy food cravings.

Sedentary Behaviors Affect Emotional Health

Physical exercise can improve your mood because it triggers the release of feel-good hormones. When you’re inactive, the opposite happens. You feel stressed, anxious, depressed, and irritable.

You feel more exhausted, not only physically but emotionally. Most people who are depressed suffer from fatigue.

Engaging in physical activities boosts your energy and prevents fatigue, which consequently improves your emotional health.

What You Need To Do

Sedentary behaviors affect your physical and emotional health, leading to fatigue. You feel weak, stressed, depressed, sleepy, hungry, and irritated, all because of a lack of physical activity. This rollercoaster ride of having no energy can be reversed once you start exercising.

If you’ve been sedentary for a lengthy period of time, it’s not too late to start getting active.

* Stop the sedentary cycle.
* Start small and make exercise a regular part of your routine.
* Begin standing up more.
* Then walk more, even just inside your living room.

The more you move, the more your health will improve, and the more you will feel like exercising.






Conclusion

A sedentary lifestyle is definitely an area where the worse it gets, the worse it gets. The great news is, that the reverse also applies. You can start today and improve your health and well-being little by little.

No matter what level of fitness you currently hold, you can almost certainly increase your level of physical activity, and benefit from doing so.

Recognize that your mind, in most cases, is inherently lazy. It wants you to do it the easy way and conserve energy. Once upon a time, that may have been in your best interest, but nowadays it is working against you.

A sedentary lifestyle will prevent you from living the most expressive and enjoyable life that you otherwise might. Statistics show that it will also reduce the years that you have to do so.

Eat well, exercise often, and sleep well, and you are giving your body the best chance possible to fight disease and ill-health. You are maximizing your lifespan, and maintaining a mind and body to fully enjoy your life.

Get started in moving more, and watch how in time your sleep and eating habits improve too.

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