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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

#191

Post by 2muchcoffeeman »

magic_beans wrote: post #187
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…

If you're that skinny I'd really suggest weightlifting with a couple days of cardio (run, swim, dance, whatever). I'm assuming you're a man, but I'm a really skinny woman and weightlifting helped me put on 10 pounds of muscle. I feel really strong and amazing.

Agree, do strength work and basic cardio. If you run, also do some sprinting. You never have to run long distances in real life and strength work is very useful for life in general.

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

#192

Post by bjelkeman-again »

scrollaway wrote: post #153
vog wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I have used a standing desk for several years now. Probably standing/sitting 60/40. For a few years it was 80/20. Any issues I had where primarily related to my feet. Some good supporting sandals fixed that. Other than that I practice martial arts 2x1.5 hour a week quite intensively. Walk to work and back 40 min/day. I now control my weight easily and am much healthier and alert. Sleep one hour less per day, and still feel great.

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

#193

Post by jjrumi »

neppo wrote: post #172
CannisterFlux wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Wow, thanks guys! You made my day with these easy tips.

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

#194

Post by naraga »

usaphp wrote: post #135
sn9 wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Running 5k under 20 minutes is not an achievable goal for most people over 30...I play soccer twice a week and so weight lifting, am in pretty good shape and tried to run 5k in under 20 minutes and just could not, spent like half a year running almost every other evening and the best I could get was 21:20. And it's definitely not easily maintained... Also 30 pull ups is not an easily achievable number...my friend who…

Those numbers are not achievable in 1 year maybe but are definitely achievable without being pro or anything like that. It might take you few years but if you set those as a goal you'll get there with recreational kind of exercise levels. Talking from my and my friends experience. I am 36.

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

#195

Post by kirrent »

thenomad wrote: post #182
kirrent wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It didn't take too long for people to work out that smaller, finer motions were what worked best for the Wii. One to one tracking in VR means that there's no faking motion and while I wouldn't go as far as saying it's a workout I do have to actually be moving, ducking, and dodging around the room in plenty of VR games.

Yes, speaking as a VR developer, that's absolutely huge. Good luck trying to fake out the monsters in my game, Left-Hand Path, with tiny wrist motions - it's move or get dismembered time :)

I just looked up your game and it looks awesome. I'll definitely be picking it up once the rift update comes along.

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

#196

Post by felixbraun »

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.

There is a very convincing one where they compare health outcomes of bus drivers, who sit all day, and conductors.

London transport workers study -- coronary heart disease and physical activity of work: http://www.epi.umn.edu/cvdepi/study-synopsis/london-transpor...

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

#197

Post by taneq »

magic_beans wrote: post #187
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…

If you're that skinny I'd really suggest weightlifting with a couple days of cardio (run, swim, dance, whatever). I'm assuming you're a man, but I'm a really skinny woman and weightlifting helped me put on 10 pounds of muscle. I feel really strong and amazing.

Agreed. Build up some strength, maybe double what you ever really need in your every day life, and everything just feels amazingly easy. It's like switching from an economy car to a sports car. Your body becomes fun to drive!

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

#198

Post by AJ007 »

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…

I will tell you what I tried when I was 22, and what I wish I had been told instead.

I was doing weight lifting and ended up developing really bad RSI. Most likely from a combination of a few things including excessive computer use. I stopped, and after that started running, not particularly successfully. That was on and off but not very successful.

Some things I did were good, others weren't. My hips started tightening up and I had joint issues. Lots of testing and alternations later:

#1 Don't eat processed foods or things that will cause a blood sugar crash. This messes up your energy levels and makes consistent exercise much harder. Bulking up, I don't have a good answer for, other than most Westerners are far, far larger than a human would be on a normal diet. Whether or not 61kg is too skinny depends in part on your height.

#2 Get a standing desk, and use it at least part of the day.

#3 Walk every day for at least an hour (much easier if you are in a walkable city; if I wasn't, I might consider a treadmill desk)

#4 Start doing body weight exercise - I recommend "You Are Your Own Gym" for an easy start. This means you can't make up an excuse to not go to the gym because you can do it right by your desk. In this case, it cured my RSI within weeks. Definitely one of the most incredible things that has happened in my life and completely unexpected.

#5 Use an elliptical for endurance or run occasionally.

The important thing is to build up your strength and flexibility without injuring yourself. You are 22 now, but consider if you will be able to do this stuff for the next 50 years.

This baseline fitness will also make it easier to do more active things without getting tired, whether it is mountain biking, running, kayaking, skating, tennis etc.

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

#199

Post by RyanMcGreal »

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…

I'm in my mid-40s. For about 15 years, I sat at a desk writing code and slowly dying. Three and a half years ago, I started running three times a week. Then, a little over two years ago, I switched to a standing desk. I've never looked back.

To avoid stiffening up, I play music (usually progressive house or something similarly rhythmic-but-not-too-distracting) into noise-cancelling headphones and let the music move me. Because I'm not standing still, I don't experience lower back pain, stiffness, soreness or anything else.

If I had to go back to sitting now, it would kill me.

[] NB I wrenched my back last autumn by twisting in a funny way while painting a ceiling with a roller on an extension pole. After a couple of weeks of Advil and an aggressive regimen of back exercises and stretches, my back pain was completely gone and I feel better than ever.

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

#200

Post by rollthehard6 »

snowcrshd wrote: post #184
Xiol wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

+1 for C25k Pretty solid program to get started running. After that, I'd suggest doing Bridge to 10K [1] Surprisingly to me at the time, Bridge to 10K was way easier than C25k [1]: https://blog.bluefinapps.com/about-bridge-to-10k/

Absolutely, C25K was the best thing I ever did - Run 2x5Ks a week at lunch and a 10K at the weekend. Worked up to 10Ks about 3 or 4 weeks after first 30 minute run. It makes it pretty easy and I lost around 13 lbs from this alone.
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