Believe it or not, one of the most dangerous things that you can do for your health is sitting. Well, more specifically, sitting for extended periods of time without any physical activity. Due to the wide proliferation of office jobs and other jobs that require a person to sit at a desk for a long period of time, researchers have begun looking at the negative effects of sitting at a desk for an entire day, and the results are a bit scary. As you will see in this article, the dangers of sitting are something you should be concerned about.
It Can Increase Your Risk of Heart Disease
A study done very recently on two sets of people (train conductors and transit drivers) showed that the group that sat most of the day (transit drivers) were far more likely to develop heart disease later on in life. This is despite the fact that both groups had similar stress levels, similar diets, and lived similar lifestyles. The lack of any movement could contribute to increased risk of heart disease because being sedentary means that your circulatory system isn’t working as well as it should.
It Lowers Your Energy Levels
One of the major downsides of sitting all day is that it really saps your energy levels. Your body detects that you aren’t moving and so it produces less energy since your body needs less energy when you aren’t moving around. This becomes a problem when you stop working because your body will be to notice and won’t start producing more energy right away. This results in you having no energy after work and therefore no desire to exercise or be active.
It Can Increase Your Weight
So, this should be fairly obvious, but sitting all day can lead to increased weight gain. Sure, walking around while working may not seem like vigorous exercise, but when it comes to weight management, every little bit can help.
Increased Chance of Blood Clots
One of the biggest issues with sitting all day is the fact that it massively increases your chances of developing blood clots in your leg. More specifically, you get a greater risk of developing DVT or deep vein thrombosis. This is a type of very dangerous and very painful blood clot that can form in your legs. Unlike some of the other things listed so far, which is only connected to sitting for too long, DVT is directly caused by sitting for too long.