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Sitting May Be Bad for Your Heart

nytimes.com

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Re: Sitting May Be Bad for Your Heart

#81

Post by nickjj »

I would say during the 16 hours I'm awake, it's mixed between standing with a little bit of movement (75%), walking / running (10%) and sitting (15%). This has been going on for about 2 years.

You can put together a custom standing desk for about $50 nowadays and a $35ish chair is all you need to comfortably sit in an ergonomic way with your standing desk when you want to take a break (no complicated adjustable desk needed, just a standard 29" comfortable stool with a back).

I really like this set up and highly recommend it.

Re: Sitting May Be Bad for Your Heart

#82

Post by artur_makly »

i noticed in the past 3 years that my ability to stand still > 1hr becomes very very challenging. not sure if this is my age..but it truly was alarming.

so now i take it day by day and push myself a few min more each morning ( when my hormones are the highest ) to stand more. i mix it up during the day when i can..and use a fitball for sitting.

Let's all do more standing, drinking water, yoga, and eat more non-processed foods in 2018!!

Re: Sitting May Be Bad for Your Heart

#83

Post by anken »

abawany wrote: post #54
maxxxxx wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At home I have a desk I can take up and down. Some days I sit, some days I stand. I think that's the best

I place this ( http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90184047/ ) on my desk when I want a standing desk and remove it when I am ready to sit down :) . I like Ikea.

I place this https://m.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/art/80267566/ on my desk, you can put more things than your computer and lean on it, it holds well.

Re: Sitting May Be Bad for Your Heart

#84

Post by woolvalley »

CM30 wrote: post #55
sixdimensional wrote: post #41

Taking a bigger picture view, this makes me wonder.. we took so much effort to move from the industrial age, where hands on work, always active all day work took its toll on workers, to the service or knowledge age, where we sit all day and that takes its toll. Surely the answer lies somewhere in-between, that we must rest, and we must move, and the amount of each must be relative to each person and activity. I would…

Stick the computer on an exercise bike, set it up so its powered by a dynamo and get the programming, marketing and sales teams to cycle while working. Okay, that's not a good idea, but it's one I can see a executive coming up with to 'promote a healthy lifestyle' at one of those newfangled offices Apple and Google and the likes have.

I actually find it hard to focus or type when I use something like that. It's kind of like how you turn down the music when you want to focus on something when driving.

Re: Sitting May Be Bad for Your Heart

#85

Post by freehunter »

tormeh wrote: post #40

When I started my fisærst and current job I got back pains after 2 months. I tried walking home every day, which helped, but that's not always possible in winter. What really helped was working out with weight exercises during lunch. No pain since then.

>fisærst

?

Re: Sitting May Be Bad for Your Heart

#86

Post by slantyyz »

austinjp wrote: post #38
bluGill wrote: post #25

Unfortunately while there is evidence that sitting all day is bad, we don't know if/what alternatives are good. Is standing better, or do you need to move? Maybe it is staring at something close (monitor, papers...) and sitting is only bad as a proxy (I know of no study that can actually say that hypothesis is wrong even though I just made it up). Modern life currently requires a lot of people to spend a lot of time…

Prolonged standing increases risk of varicose veins. It seems likely that mixing sitting and standing would be best. In what proportions, I don't know. Walking is likely to be a good substitute for simple standing in most people. It improves veinous return, puts some healthy impact into the legs, increases uptake of glucose from the blood stream by the leg muscles, gives the heart and lungs a little extra work, etc.

I developed plantar fasciitis in both feet after a year of standing only (using a pad on the floor). I switched to a drafting stool to help clear it up. One heel got better after a couple of months but the other one took about six months to clear up.

I just started standing again, but I will be switching between sitting and standing to avoid getting plantar fasciitis again. I do enjoy (and actually prefer) standing. I also noticed my posture improving when I work while standing.

Re: Sitting May Be Bad for Your Heart

#87

Post by jhayward »

sliverstorm wrote: post #56
sixdimensional wrote: post #41

Taking a bigger picture view, this makes me wonder.. we took so much effort to move from the industrial age, where hands on work, always active all day work took its toll on workers, to the service or knowledge age, where we sit all day and that takes its toll. Surely the answer lies somewhere in-between, that we must rest, and we must move, and the amount of each must be relative to each person and activity. I would…

I always understood a lot of the industrial age jobs took a toll because of hazards & health issues. Occupational hazards like mine collapse & black lung, heavy machinery, fumes, and so forth. Are there many accounts of people simply being "all worn out" from hands on work? Are, e.g., lumberjacks who aren't injured, healthy or worn thin?

Go ask anyone aged 45 or over, who does physical labor - construction workers, electricians, farm workers, flatbed truck drivers. They will all tell you of the severe toll on their muscles, bones, and most specifically joints. Shoulders, elbows, hands, knees, and backs get to a point of being functionally disabled.

So, yes, physical labor, even with full OSHA support, will wear your body out. Alongside all those structural injuries seems to come a penumbra of other illnesses, like heart and kidney disease.

Re: Sitting May Be Bad for Your Heart

#89

Post by ringaroundthetx »

sixdimensional wrote: post #41

Taking a bigger picture view, this makes me wonder.. we took so much effort to move from the industrial age, where hands on work, always active all day work took its toll on workers, to the service or knowledge age, where we sit all day and that takes its toll. Surely the answer lies somewhere in-between, that we must rest, and we must move, and the amount of each must be relative to each person and activity. I would…

> I would prefer to see studies not just trying to prove things bad (we have enough of those), but focuses on what can be proven to be a positive

The thing is, we dont know yet

So youll have to settle for conflicting studies about coffee and red wine consumption forwarded from your loved ones

Re: Sitting May Be Bad for Your Heart

#90

Post by slphil »

Florin_Andrei wrote: post #76
sixdimensional wrote: post #41

Taking a bigger picture view, this makes me wonder.. we took so much effort to move from the industrial age, where hands on work, always active all day work took its toll on workers, to the service or knowledge age, where we sit all day and that takes its toll. Surely the answer lies somewhere in-between, that we must rest, and we must move, and the amount of each must be relative to each person and activity. I would…

> Surely the answer lies somewhere in-between, that we must rest, and we must move I think the biggest change we made that caught us completely unprepared, was that we've committed ourselves to doing the same thing 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, all year long, for decades. I don't think our bodies evolved for this kind of effort (and I use the word "effort" even when the activity requires a lot of sitting, which is ap…

While nothing you said is inaccurate, be careful of falling for the "original affluent society" canard. Hunter gatherers do not work less than we do, and they do not get enough food. (Quillette recently did a good write-up on this.)
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