Can conscious workouts compensate prolonged sedentary work positions?

In our modern technologically based society, we have a huge portion of the population that works sitting behind a desk for 8 hours without more than a lunch and bathroom break or two.  And then when they get home, they prefer to watch TV or use leisure time in browsing the internet and using social networks.

Even for the people that work out diligently at least a few days per week, there is a substantial risk of suffering metabolic and health issues due to “too much sitting”.

Chronic uninterrupted periods of muscular unloading associated with prolonged sedentary time can have negative biological consequences.  Some British research identified an association between sitting time and an early death!

By contrast, just the act of standing involves contraction of postural muscles. Even though there are very low levels of calorie expenditure from standing still, standing promotes a positive shake to the body to break the inertia.

The latest research suggests that formal workouts may not undo some of the negative consequences of long periods of sitting.  A simple workout program may not be enough to overcome all the negative health effects of an otherwise sedentary lifestyle.

Although the different health organizations struggle to make broad physical activity guidelines for the entire general population, the trend is not to just elaborate on the quantity and type of formal exercises, but also to recommend a reduction of sedentary behaviors like TV watching and computer time.

Since we're not probably going backwards to be a labor-based society soon, we need to formulate and follow a daily strategy of breaking up sitting time whenever it's possible. That could include simple transitions from sitting to standing and/or working while walking.

Overall, think about physical activity beyond the gym…  If you want to get familiar with the basics of a balanced life and a physically active lifestyle, just ask us!