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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

#171

Post by saiya-jin »

overcast wrote: post #94
sopooneo wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm 37. Developer. I had suffered lower back pain for five years, sometimes severely. I started doing just 20 pushups a day and it is completely gone. Just one data point, I know. But since that data point is 100% of me, I'm sticking with it.

36, same thing. It works, it's not anecdotal. Number one reason for lower back pain, is weak back muscles.

weak core muscles, meaning all around your waist. stomach ones are very important, actually these keep straight posture much more than back muscles.

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

#172

Post by neppo »

CannisterFlux wrote: post #156
usaphp wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

you can also do them underneath an (office) desk, by holding on to the edge and pulling yourself up from the floor

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

#173

Post by saiya-jin »

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…

those are some ridiculous statements. i'll ignore rest and focus on 2x the body weight via deadlifts. for me this would mean doing 180kg (400 pound) deadlifts which most people simply never ever achieve with 2-3x/week routine (I am lean 188cm tall sporty guy).

unless you have a) excellent genes for joints and all connective tissue (tendons, legaments etc) and b) super-duper perfect flawless form that you can maintain at any situation and any point of exhaustion, you will screw up your body. it might take 10 years or 20 to see it, but reaching 60-70 you will be more crippled than most sendentary people.

there are many good advices in this discussion here, but these are not one of those.

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

#174

Post by lennelpennel »

eicossa wrote: post #148
lennelpennel wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My advice would be to incorporate it as part of your everyday life. Cycle to work, if you live far, get a battery assisted bike. I am a massive fan of yoga as well, the general and core strength you need for that is incredible along with keeping your body limber (which helps fighting injuries and just generally helps with people sitting a lot). Get in a pool and just go as fast as you can, for as long as you can. Tak…

I'm surprised you mention swimming has changed your life. I was always suspicious of the way I had begun thinking of my life in terms of "Before Swimming" and "After Swimming" phases. Has this been your experience too ? I used to bike an hour a day earlier, but swimming has done something else to my well-being and productivity.

Swimming with its deeply regulated breathing opened a door in my mind as far meditative exercise is concerned. It definitely altered the way I experienced exercise, friends who run long distances say similar things about that.

The transformative aspect that I was referring too however was not that, more that swimming as an exercise form is strengthening, incredible cardio and learning to breathe properly is a result of getting better at it.

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

#175

Post by finid »

For almost a year I spent practically all day sitting in front of a PC monitor (used to work at home), with no exercise.

Then I developed pain in both knees, worse on the left knee. I figured that it was because of too much sitting, so I got a standing desk. In about a month, knee pains gone, completely.

Never even bothered to go see a doctor.

After standing for too long, I started having pains in my lower back. Solution? I got a bar stool, so I now alternate between standing and sitting.

What I learnt is that our body's joints (knee, elbow, waist, ankle, etc) were not designed to remain in one position for too long. Movement lubricates them.

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

#176

Post by ahstro »

finid wrote: post #175

For almost a year I spent practically all day sitting in front of a PC monitor (used to work at home), with no exercise. Then I developed pain in both knees, worse on the left knee. I figured that it was because of too much sitting, so I got a standing desk. In about a month, knee pains gone, completely. Never even bothered to go see a doctor. After standing for too long, I started having pains in my lower back. Solu…

>Solution? You said it yourself: "[...] our body's joints [...] were not designed to remain in one position for too long." Try a pomodoro-esque schedule (25 min work, 5 min rest) where you get up and move around, maybe do some stretches and warm up exercises?

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

#177

Post by Philipp__ »

I am fairly young, 22, mostly sitting in front of the computer, even sitting while studying. So it could be said I sit around 10 hours per day.

When I was younger, up until the end of high school, I used to do sports, but since I got to college, I simply stopped caring. My body is skinny, really skinny, I weight 61kg, and I had that weight for last 7 years. But one day I thought maybe I should do something, not for the looks, but for the feel of my body, and physical body exhaustion just feels healthy sometimes.

So I thought running might be what I am looking for. Any advice on that? I am sure someone is doing it so (with lower body weight), any advice or thought on that? Btw when it's not winter, I skate, especially in summer, I use to skate all night, for 5-6 hours.

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

#178

Post by Xiol »

Philipp__ wrote: post #177

I am fairly young, 22, mostly sitting in front of the computer, even sitting while studying. So it could be said I sit around 10 hours per day. When I was younger, up until the end of high school, I used to do sports, but since I got to college, I simply stopped caring. My body is skinny, really skinny, I weight 61kg, and I had that weight for last 7 years. But one day I thought maybe I should do something, not for t…

Couch to 5K should help.

http://www.nhs.uk/LiveWell/c25k/Pages/couch-to-5k.aspx

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

#179

Post by scrollaway »

vog wrote: post #170
scrollaway wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Do these issues also occur when you switch between standing and sitting? (I suspect that the real issue is neither sitting nor standing, but monotonicity.)

In my experience -- again, completely anecdotal --, investing in a high quality office chair, mattress and set of pillows goes a long way towards less joint pain/damage. Standing desks just move the damage lower down.

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

#180

Post by thenomad »

_nothing wrote: post #74
matthewbauer wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate to be too cynical but I recall people saying similar things about the Wii when it first came out. While Wii can give you a work out, I don't think it ever really caught on.

I used to get a really good workout playing the Kinect Sports games on my Xbox. I'd play the boxing game for a couple hours at a time some days, until my arms were extremely sore (I did it for exercise). Eventually I started carrying light weights for the boxing game. I'm not sure it's that these things never "caught on". I just think they were marketed poorly as serious games, and so only non-serious gamers bothered…

Me too. It's a real pity the thing never caught on.

(My personal theory on that one is that the input lag really hurt the platform. Plus, when looking for Kinect developers, you're looking for people who are good game developers AND physically active - testing on physical games is hard work! That narrows the pool.)

However, it's interesting to note that what's pretty much universally regarded as the best Kinect game ever came out this year: http://www.theverge.com/2016/7/13/12173190/fru-game-review-x...

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