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Too much sitting, too little exercise may accelerate biological aging

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Re: Too much sitting, too little exercise may accelerate biological aging

#151

Post by oever »

usaphp wrote: post #131
trhway wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

get a sit/stand desk. Even better if it is with treadmill. I only wish i started to work standing 10-15 years ago instead of just the last couple of years.

It's not about getting a treadmill desk or sit/standing desk, it's about forcing yourself to actually use it. I have a standing desk with a treadmill under it, most of the time I just find an execuse to sit, and do not turn on treadmill...however when I force myself I really do feel great and much more energized

So when you feel great and energized you manage to force yourself? ;-)

Still good that you have the option to be active when you want to.

Re: Too much sitting, too little exercise may accelerate biological aging

#152

Post by bildung »

david___sh wrote: post #37

My view might be classified as 'odd', but this is how I look at this problem, and this is what I ended up doing: I do not mind living a decade shorter than those ones who are more active than me. I have tried to be active, but could not fit it into my mentality. Note that I did not say my lifestyle, I said my mentality. I am unable to be active. I was not an active person a a kid, and I am not one as an adult. If I a…

> I have tried to be active, but could not fit it into my mentality. Note that I did not say my lifestyle, I said my mentality. I am unable to be active. I was not an active person a a kid, and I am not one as an adult.

I'm not a physician at all, but this sounds similar to a friend who was finally diagnosed with thyroid hypofunction. She now gets hormone pills and is way more energetic. Do you also have low blood pressure? Can't stay up without two coffees in the morning?

Re: Too much sitting, too little exercise may accelerate biological aging

#153

Post by scrollaway »

vog wrote: post #149
antirez wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are studies suggesting that exercise does not totally cancel out the damage caused by long hours of sitting.

Alternatively, you can use a standing desk, or switch between a sitting and a standing desk. That way you have an additional litte exercise during the working hours.

I've read so many (anecdotal) stories about standing desks doing a number on knees and ankles that I think I'd rather go in a tanning bed than get one.

Re: Too much sitting, too little exercise may accelerate biological aging

#154

Post by AppleCandy »

CaptSpify wrote: post #20
rokhayakebe wrote: post #8

Here is something most people can do that will have great impact on your overall health: take a walking break at work. Besides the health benefits it will help you clear your head and possibly find a solution to that problem, get some sun, chat with a co-worker about life, etc....

I used to hang out with the smokers at my last job. I don't smoke, but I found leaving and coming back to a problem helped me approach it in new ways. I used to always joke that the smoking employees were "cheating", so I could cheat too. Obviously I'd advocate walking over smoking though.

And you got the second hand smoke for free, double cheating!

Re: Too much sitting, too little exercise may accelerate biological aging

#155

Post by stinos »

antirez wrote: post #145
bogomipz wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think if you are walking a solid hour a day every day you are getting your exercise just fine. Even half an hour a day of walking is good.

There are studies suggesting that exercise does not totally cancel out the damage caused by long hours of sitting.

Yeah that's what I recall aas well, even think I saw it here on HN. Consensus was along the lines of 'an hour of exercise every night cannot cancel out the damage done by sitting down continuously for 8 hours' and the remedy 'interrupt sitting evrey hour or so, e.g. by a breif walk'.

Re: Too much sitting, too little exercise may accelerate biological aging

#156

Post by CannisterFlux »

usaphp wrote: post #142
npunt wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pushups are great, but don't just do pushups - you definitely want to integrate pull-ups to get a balance between chest & back. If your chest muscles are overdeveloped relative to your back, you are exacerbating the bad computer posture of shoulders rolled forward and forward head posture known as upper crossed syndrome.

For 99% of people here just push-ups will be much better than nothing, it's much harder to find a pull up bar than do push-ups. You won't get overdeveloped muscle just from push-ups.

A good exercise to pair with push ups is horizontal rows. They're easier than pull ups and don't require a pull up bar. I do them with a sturdy wooden broom handle between the back of 2 chairs.

Re: Too much sitting, too little exercise may accelerate biological aging

#157

Post by emmanuel_1234 »

sn9 wrote: post #117
Question1101 wrote: post #79

What's the best exercise just to stay healthy? And what frequency? I would hate to exercise for years just to find out it actually harmed my health.

Barbell training (e.g., presses, squats, deadlifts, etc.) 2+ days per week to the point that you can deadlift twice your bodyweight or more. Get to the point of being able to do 30 pullups in a row. Running 30 minutes or more 3+ days per week until you can run a 5k in less than 20 minutes. (Any form of cardio is acceptable and has an equivalent distance and pace.) The above are goals that are achievable for most peop…

Personally doing barbell training, to roughly this extent and enjoying it a lot

I don't think that's a recipe for everyone: I got a lot buffer than I was (had to buy new pants / shirts because of the increase in my chest and thigh girth), I am definitely healthier than I ever was: no more back pain, no more grunting like an old man when getting out of my chair, haven't had to use any antibiotics in 3 years (I used to get a lot of ENT infections).

Now, I could have achieve the healthy part by just doing some cardio/bodyweight exercises (e.g.: pushups/pullups). Powerlifting is, by far, out of all the regimen I researched, the most bang for your buck. However, not everyone wants/needs to build muscle/get buffed more than necessary, and deadlifting 2x your body-weight is certainly unnecessary (but extremely gratifying!).

Re: Too much sitting, too little exercise may accelerate biological aging

#158

Post by eivarv »

mtdewcmu wrote: post #88
graeme wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was inclined to disagree, but seeing the populations involved are elderly, I think you're likely correct. It would be interesting to see what the data shows in younger populations, when almost everyone is able to exercise.

The data always turn out the same way. Healthier people exercise more. Sicker people exercise less. One person sees sick people sitting and concludes that they are sitting because they're sick. Another person concludes that they're sick because they're sitting. We need better-quality studies to really determine if sitting makes people sick.

I don't understand what you mean by "better-quality studies" (in the context of this study). It seems to me that you're really looking for follow-up studies.

This study "assessed the association of sedentary time with leukocyte telomere length (LTL)" [0] - that's it.

Investigating causal relationships would be another study.

You're right about alternate interpretations/speculation, though.

[0]: https://academic.oup.com/aje/article/doi/10.1093/aje/kww196/...

Re: Too much sitting, too little exercise may accelerate biological aging

#159

Post by winter_blue »

fapjacks wrote: post #133
winter_blue wrote: post #123

I work on personal projects, read HN, or do other things on my computer while I'm at home. I'm sitting at a desk and using my computer for 12+ hours a day. I rarely ever exercise, or even move my body much besides my fingers. This is really terrible news for people like me.

Do you even lift? It's really easy to start, and it's really easy to get caught up in the habit. It sounds implausible, but I became a much better programmer after I started lifting weights every day.

That's pretty cool, I guess exercise helps improve mood a lot. I should definitely give lifting every day a shot.

I'm searching for a good set of weights on Amazon, but I'm a bit lost. Can you recommend anything (that's a good for a beginner)?

Re: Too much sitting, too little exercise may accelerate biological aging

#160

Post by Yaggo »

I sit ~10 hours daily, including 2+ hours driving. I'm naturally skinny but haven't done much physical exercises in recent years ("busy"). Now, at age of 34, I'm starting to realize that my body won't last forever and finally started to exercise few times per week, after I found motivating enough guide¹. It amazing how much more energized it makes you feel.

[1] https://www.julian.com/learn/muscle/intro

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