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Sitting down too much is doing more harm to your body than you can imagine

elth.co

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Re: Sitting down too much is doing more harm to your body than you can imagine

#3
Other than the click-baity title this article is pretty good. What I like about it is that it makes actionable suggestions as to what you can do to help improve your performance. It also at least makes an effort to provide research to back up some of its claims.

I wish more articles and news outlets would do this. If journalist are going to critique something or show that its problematic I really appreciate it when they give me enough data to go explore and discover more on my own and when they also give me something actionable (preferably based on a body of research itself) which I can do to solve the issue / problem.

Re: Sitting down too much is doing more harm to your body than you can imagine

#4
post #3

Other than the click-baity title this article is pretty good. What I like about it is that it makes actionable suggestions as to what you can do to help improve your performance. It also at least makes an effort to provide research to back up some of its claims. I wish more articles and news outlets would do this. If journalist are going to critique something or show that its problematic I really appreciate it when t…

Yeah, some good general advice in there that's actually achievable. Although the suggestion of dropping by a colleague for a potential "wonderful conversation" made me laugh given Hacker News readers' usual opinions on interruptions.

Re: Sitting down too much is doing more harm to your body than you can imagine

#5
Every time I read an article like this, I get a bad feeling and I say to myself "I'll definitely exercise more - I don't wanna be all buggy when I get older due to my lifestyle - I'll do this NOW!". Then a couple of hours later, I'm back coding happily seated. I'm sure this is the case for many of us.

I wish our brains could keep this bad, guilty-like feeling that makes us take action around for longer.

Re: Sitting down too much is doing more harm to your body than you can imagine

#7
To add to this - we have a cardiovascular system that is kept moving by our heart pumping. We also have a lymph node system, which is moved around by us walking around (no pump). So if you are completely sedentary this can become blocked up and result in all sorts of problems (random lumps, infections etc)

Re: Sitting down too much is doing more harm to your body than you can imagine

#8
I've been using a standing desk now for almost 2 years and stand about 90% of the time. I think it's one of the best decisions I've ever made because it leads to other healthy habits.

Typically you don't stand still at a standing desk. Your legs will naturally want to move and stretch and since you're already standing, you can do this without really being disturbed.

Also, it sounds funny but walking and even running is a nice "break" from standing. It gives you more energy. I tend to break up my day with 2-3x ~2 mile walks.

There's other big wins too like much improved posture (especially if you were like me and sat in crazy positions).

If anyone wants to try out a standing desk without investing hundreds of dollars on an adjustable one I wrote a guide on how to build a custom standing desk to fit your desk[0] (without needing a saw):

[0]: https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/build-a-home-made-standing-de...

Re: Sitting down too much is doing more harm to your body than you can imagine

#9
I tried taking breaks while working with one of those screen alarms that turns into a relaxation / stretching video but couldn't continue doing it. It seemed to go off so often, even though I set it to a recommended time interval. I got annoyed quickly and got rid of it. I too feel guilt every time I read one of these articles. To make matters worse, my desk quickly converts to standing position. I don't know what it is about this laziness but I wish I could beat it. Why can't I be strong :(

Re: Sitting down too much is doing more harm to your body than you can imagine

#10
post #8

I've been using a standing desk now for almost 2 years and stand about 90% of the time. I think it's one of the best decisions I've ever made because it leads to other healthy habits. Typically you don't stand still at a standing desk. Your legs will naturally want to move and stretch and since you're already standing, you can do this without really being disturbed. Also, it sounds funny but walking and even running…

Most recent studies on this topic suggest that standing alone is not much (if any) improvement over sitting for long periods; but, you are correct that standing makes it more likely that you will move every few minutes, even seconds, compared to sitting, so that's really where the benefit comes from.
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