Your body isn’t meant to be sedentary on a daily basis. We are meant to be moving around for the better part of the day. But what exactly happens to your body when you sit at a desk for up to eight hours a day, barely moving in between those times?
Today, we’ll take a look at some of the effects of sitting at a desk and what it does to your body in the long run.
Sitting at a desk all day absolutely destroys the biomechanics of the body. When you sit for long periods of time, the front of the hips or the hip flexors and the psoas become short and tight. This causes the back of the hips to become long and weak.
It may seem like this won’t matter much as long as you workout regularly, but the body forgets what it doesn’t use. When the body forgets how to activate the gluteal muscles, other parts of the muscles will then compensate for the gluteal muscles.
The result of this is lower back pain, tight iliotibial bands and even pain in the knee. Poor posture while sitting (such as hunching over your workstation with your neck drooping) can lead to a kyphotic spine with a forward head syndrome.
Lack of activity also decreases the number of calories burned. In addition, studies have shown that after three hours of sitting, your body experiences a 50% drop in artery dilation due to decreased blood flow, eventually increasing your risk of getting type 2 diabetes! If your sitting habits continue, the effects of all of the above will only get compounded!
The only way to truly rid yourself of all the negative effects is to spend 15 to 30 minutes of standing to an hour of sitting in your office. Exercise alone does not counteract the negative effects developed after all the time spent sitting in the office, so get your butt off the chair!
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