21: The Problem with Sitting: A Solution

Chad and Brenda Walding join me on today’s podcast to explain how sitting can be one of the most harmful things you do each day.

You’ve probably seen the headlines…

“Sitting is the New Smoking”
“7 Ways Sitting Will Kill You”
“Sitting is Taking Years Off Your Life”

…and you may have hoped it was media hype.

Sitting is Worse Than Donuts…

It isn’t hype. More and more studies have come out proving how bad sitting is EVEN if you work out regularly.

Here are three important studies about sitting…

Study One: Sitting causes premature death (especially in women!)

Alpa Patel (PhD), an epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society, tracked the health of 123,000 Americans between 1992 and 2006. The men in the study who spent six hours or more per day of their leisure time sitting had an overall death rate that was 20 percent higher than the men who sat for three hours or less. The death rate for women who sat for more than six hours a day was about 40 percent higher.

Study Two: Daily Exercise Doesn’t Reduce The Threat Of Sitting

Marc Hamilton, Ph.D, Professor, and inactivity researcher at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, has published 12 studies on the topic of sitting. Each one has proven how dangerous modern sitting is. Here is a summary statement on why typical exercise isn’t a solution…

“People don’t need the experts to tell them that sitting around too much could give them a sore back or a spare tire. The conventional wisdom, though, is that if you watch your diet and get aerobic exercise at least a few times a week, you’ll effectively offset your sedentary time…this advice makes scarcely more sense than the notion that you could counter a pack-a-day smoking habit by jogging. Exercise is not a perfect antidote for sitting. Sitting is hazardous. It’s dangerous.” — Marc Hamilton

Study Three: Sitting increases risk of mortality, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome risk factors, and obesity.

In an extensive study (2007 Nov;56 (11):2655-67. Epub 2007 Sep 7) the evidence concluded that sitting was a “…potentially major clinical and public health significance…the dire concern for the future may rest with growing numbers of people unaware of the potential insidious dangers of sitting too much.” (Emphasis Added)

Scary huh?

If you’re like most people, sitting isn’t really something you can just stop doing.

But here is the good news…you don’t have to.

Today’s podcast guests,  Chad and Brenda (Doctors of Physical Therapy) have spent years behind the scenes working on a solution for their patients. It combines the positive studies of Activity Thermogenesis and their expertise in Physical Therapy to gently reverse the negative impact of sitting inside your body…and it works even if you HAVE to sit all day!

They are sharing their solutions on this podcast episode and I know you’ll learn a lot from them.

Resources We Mention

• Standing desk (this is the one I use)