The negative effects of extended sitting

[Major Tom]

I got my standing desk figured out. I was cleaning th eslide on my C2 and I looked up at my file vabinet and a light went off.

The top of a standard 4 drawer steel file cabinet is perfect for my monitor. I can put a nice rug runner over it from side to side to make it look a little better. I need to rig a stand for my keyboard and mouse and I am good to go. I once had a nice shop, I could make what I need in afternoon, but that is gone for good.

Anyway, I hate to sit so this will be good for me. I little cha-cha-cha in place to keep my circulation going while I read the posts on my favorite site, ER.ORG!.

Ha

If that works, you could use 2 file cabinets to support a desk top for a more permanent arrangement.

I'm not much of a dancer, preferring to do the same version of a Bill Cosby dance to everything (even if the only music playing is in my head), but it sure feels good to be able to move around while "working". Movement and zest for life are close partners!

 

[Animorph]

I hope using the laptop while sitting counts as an alternate activity.

DH on the otherhand avoids the problem altogether. She avoids sitting and lays on the rug while watching TV.

 

[haha]

DH on the otherhand avoids the problem altogether. She avoids sitting and lays on the rug while watching TV.

That should count as an alternate activity.

Ha

 

[TromboneAl]

I found that because I was already standing, I tended to make more short trips around my work area,

And to the kitchen?

 

[Major Tom]

And to the kitchen?

I did make frequent trips to the employee break-room, but only to get (yet) another cup of coffee. I used to drink many of them while working.

However, back in those days, I did put sugar in my coffee, so you've got me there Al

 

[haha]

I cobbled together my setup yesterday, and had it available for most of the day. 1)I no longer have to wear my readin glasses to clearly see the screen, as it is now one yard in front of me. 2) I am not likely to spend as much time in front of the computer now, because it is a really different experience from sitting down and relaxing. 3) I walk around much more, walk over to the window to check something out, just pace a bit, whatever, but much more than when sitting. And this last one may be unrelated, but I slept unusually well.

Ha

 

[JPatrick]

A few pieces of scrap wood, 30 minutes time, and bingo, you've got yourself a "treadputer."
You'd be surprised at the number of calories you can burn @ 2 MPH.

 

[veremchuka]

I heard the author today on the radio, I was walking on the treadmill. I walk 1.8 miles for 38 minutes every day and I can't wait to sit down! I have serious problems with my feet so standing is a painful thing to do, I like sitting. I do stand up and walk around throughout the day, I am not sedentary.

....researchers determined that watching an hour of television can snip 22 minutes from someone’s life. If an average man watched no TV in his adult life, the authors concluded, his life span might be 1.8 years longer, and a TV-less woman might live for a year and half longer than otherwise.

HA! If this was true I'd have died 4 years ago! I record many different shows on TV and watch them the next day or 5 days later, whenever I get a chance to see them. Fast forwarding through commercials saves about 12 minutes per one hour show so I'm gaining back some life, no? And hey, I watched Nova last week, it was about the sun. I now know that the sun consumes 4 million tons of matter per second every second. Hey that's incredible, well worth knowing even if it cut 22 minutes off my mortal travails. Fugit hora.

 

[Mulligan]

I agree that sitting a lot is probably bad. Sometimes I think that the main benefit of long (4+ hours) bike rides is that they simply eliminate more sitting time.

But here's my broken-record comment on the 250,000 subject study. The implication is:

Sitting More Causes You to be Unhealthy


but it is just as easily be interpreted as

Being Unhealthy Causes You to Sit More

IOW, the study says nothing about what causes what.

I just read in paper today in the "Dr. Donohue" column concerning a question about a person who exercises daily in the morning and does little else physically because he is an accountant and then watches tv in evening when returning from work. The inquirer said his wife was telling him that sitting all evening "is undoing all the good of morning exercises, is that true?" Dr. Donohue said there is some truth to it. He said sedentary time has many unhealthy consequences. 1. Raises triglycerides in blood 2. Suppresses production of HDL cholesterol 3. It fosters the development of the metabolic syndrome: a large belly, an unhealthy rise in your fasting blood sugar, a rise in triglycerides and a rise in blood pressure. 4. long sessions of inactivity throughout the day can undo much of the good done by a solitary daily exercise routine. Btw- He suggested the need for activity breaks during tv watching. Even doing sit-ups or pushups during commercials " will do wonders for you" is what he said.
I thought I would pass this on, as it may explain the causes. If nothing else, it hits me over the head. Since I retired, I do eat better and I exercise better, yet I lay around ALOT more. Just got my blood work back and it wasn't as good as I hoped but still fine. My BP also went up a little. maybe this inactivity is the cause as I can lay on a couch for hours surfing and watching sports.

 

[oldtrig]

I feel terrible if I sit all day so it must be something to the article. I feel much better when I go to bed at night and I am tired. Wasting a day also gets me down. Since I retired I find little time to sit as I stay busy. I never knew I had this many things that needed doing. Of course golf has its way of messing up my day, especially when I play bad. Staying active is the key to living a good life. oldtrig

 

[TromboneAl]

Unfortunately, a lot of the things I do, involve sitting: practicing piano, reading books, doing computer stuff. But I think I'm going to try to add some more non-sitting things, neatening up the house, more cooking, gardening, building things.

I've discussed how we always lose a few pounds after a camping trip, but there's still a lot of sitting involved (driving, sitting in front of a fire).

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f38/why-does-the-camping-diet-work-58052.html

 

[haha]

Unfortunately, a lot of the things I do, involve sitting: practicing piano, reading books, doing computer stuff. But I think I'm going to try to add some more non-sitting things, neatening up the house, more cooking, gardening, building things.

I've discussed how we always lose a few pounds after a camping trip, but there's still a lot of sitting involved (driving, sitting in front of a fire).

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f38/why-does-the-camping-diet-work-58052.html

I made a standing desk for computer work. It seems fine, though I notice that I use the computer less, and tend to print things out and head for the couch to read them. I also tend to read or watch a DVD in the evening rather than web surfing. I fool around standing on one leg, standing on one of those shifting surfaces, anything to make it a little interesting.

I also decided to do better job of house cleaning and keeping my kitchen ship-shape. With no dishwasher and almost all home cooked meals, this involves a lot of active standing, walking back and forth, etc. Just keeping stainless steel looking OK takes a lot of messing around. I also use a 1 qt yogurt container as my compostables container. It is handy right on my countertop, and if I am making a lot of veggies I may have to run it down to the yard waste container in the parking area several times a day. Standing also makes walking somewhere sound like a better proposition, so I may head over to Trader Joe for nothing more than a tomato and a couple avocados. Anything to break up this standing!

Ha

 

[freebird5825]

I just went through 48 hours of sitting, laying down, sleeping due to a bad cold [-]and whining LOL[/-] ...I feel AWFUL, and not just from the cold. I can't wait to get back to my virtual ping pong and gladiator game.