Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant
A few years ago, I was shocked when a friend said, “Sitting is the new smoking.” What!? I spend my days…sitting. Once I land at my desk, I forget to move. It doesn’t even occur to me to push my chair back and stand up.
Here’s the problem: Long-term sitting causes the blood to pool in the legs and keeps it from flowing to the heart, which can increase the chances of cardiovascular issues by up to 80 percent. Even one hour of sitting can impair blood flow by as much as 50 percent.
Those are pretty scary numbers with pretty scary consequences. Reversing the deadly effects of sitting ratcheted up several degrees in my priorities when I read those stats.
After my friend’s pronouncement about the dangers of sitting, I made a concerted effort to attend my Zumba class 
and then walked on the days I wasn’t dancin’ my way to being fit. But recent studies indicate that, while it’s nice I’m exercising–and I am more fit–condensing movement into one segment of the day is relatively meaningless in terms of the harm sitting does. One study found that six hours of sitting cancels out the health benefits of one hour of exercise.
But Indiana University researchers, who published an article in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, found a solution. The researchers assembled a group of men, ages 20 to 35, who were healthy (no obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure or diabetes). “They were inactive people though,” Saurabh Thosar, lead author of the study, said. “They did not exercise regularly.”
The men were asked to devote five minutes of walking on a treadmill for every hour they sat. Those brief, intermittent walking breaks prevented the men from experiencing the impaired blood flow that normally occurs when a person sits hour after hour.
So the solution to a significant problem apparently is simple: Break up your sitting regimen with five-minute walking breaks every hour.
Now, for those readers who are gloating over their decision to work standing up, hold on. Indiana University’s study didn’t examine whether walking was more effective in increasing blood circulation than standing. But in an interview, Thorsar stated that he suspected walking would be more effective because it requires active muscle movement. Standing would be better than sitting, but the worker would still be relatively stationary. A different study did find that breaking up sitting with light activity improved blood sugar levels, but breaking up sitting with standing did not.
I’m not giving up my Zumba or walking because muscle tone and other physical and mental benefits are important to me. (Okay, okay, calling my muscles “toned” would constitute a gross exaggeration, but I’m trying, all right?) However, after reading about the positive effect of taking that five-minute, moving break every hour, I’m convinced I need to change my work habits.
For those of you who have figured out how to pull yourself away from your all-absorbing work to take regular breaks, help me here. How do you remind yourself to get up and move?
TWEETABLES
How to reverse the deadly effects of sitting hour after hour. Click to tweet.
Sitting is deadly; it’s equivalent to smoking. Click to tweet.
Long-term sitting can increase the chances of cardiovascular issues by up to 80%. Click to tweet.
Oh, that’s easy. Fourteen dogs share my immediate writing area with me (or is it I who am allowed to share their common room?).
“Dad? Dad! DAD! I have to go…oops. Too late!” Waggywaggywaggy goes the tail.
So there’s an incentive to be both situationally aware, and ready to get up.
In a previous line of work, I had to be prepared to stay both perfectly still and highly alert in situations that were usually uncomfortable (and smelled horrible). And there was, of course, the high probability that sudden vigorous and effective action might be required at a moment’s notice, at pain of death or worse.
There are two ways to prepare for this – one, as you’ve pointed out, is to retain a high baseline fitness level, particularly in the cardiovascular system. Run lots of miles. Nothing else comes close.
The second is the use of isometric exercises when on site, provided that they cause no movement. It’s easier than it sounds; even squeezing one’s glutes together works a surprisingly large range of muscles.
Lowering one’s body fat is also helpful, because the ‘vascularization’ of fat is concentrated in capillaries, which provide more resistance to blood flow (like the electrical resistance in a thin wire).
Finally, remember that imprinting a significant change into your schedule (be it taking walking intervals, or following a draconian exercise regimen) will take about six weeks before it becomes self-perpetuating.
And if anyone needs help with the ‘draconian’ part…I’m available.
Regarding sitting, sometimes the simplest solutions are the best.
Get an uncomfortable chair (unless you need orthopaedic support). Mine is a hard wooden kitchen chair, and after awhile it’s like sitting on a pair of nails.
Andrew, I have a hard kitchen chair at my desk, too. 🙂
Great words, Andrew. My kitchen chair where I write has become hard because the padding is worn down from all the hours I, um, sit in it. 🙂
orthopedic chair, because I am that special. That, and I can’t take the instant pain of a poorly designed chair.
Definitely the hard chair, Andrew. 🙂
Thanks for writing about this. I exercise every day for 30 minutes to an hour and 45 minutes, but what you said about sitting for six hours canceling out an hour of exercise! Whoa! I was floored. I am going to go back to the timer system. I set a timer for 50 minutes (you can even get them for your computer desktop instead of using an actual physical timer) and then I get up and walk around, exercise, or do housework for 10 minutes. Sitting at this desk kills my legs. I’m sure many writers have this problem.
Cindy, yup, for me it’s back to habits I’ve tried to instill in myself before. But I found this latest round of studies disturbing because they make it clear I’m not taking good care of myself long-term.
How do I remind myself to get up and move?
I leave my windows open, and my earphones out.
The blare of an ambulance on the freeway, the chatter of squirrels chasing each other in the redwoods, the scent of a skunk ambling past after nightfall, and the ding of a bike bell remind me of the real world beyond my writing bubble. It also helps to have a creekside pedestrian path in our neighborhood. A few bruised eucalyptus leaves beneath the shoes brings on an invigorating scent that clears the sinuses and the mind. 🙂
Thanks for this call to action, Janet.
Ahhhh, I’m almost there. 😉
Janet,
Thanks for this great info. I think the only way I’ll be able to get out of the chair for 5 min every hour is to set an alarm. Setting one on my phone would be easiest, but it would probably be better if it popped up on my computer screen. It would be too easy to “snooze” the phone alarm! Thanks again. I am going to try this.
Have a great, productive, healthy week!
I wish us both the best in our endeavor, Erica. I’ve set a kitchen timer on my desk. When it goes off, there’s no ignoring it. I just hope I’m not on a business call at that moment!
This is alarming! However, it is great to read that what can be done is relatively simple. I love walking and water exercise, but I am not conscientious about either (especially when summer passes). During certain seasons, I have set the timer for 45 minutes to remind me to take a break from writing. That is another perk of working at home. Having many household tasks on the list to do provides a health benefit. Who knew?
Carol, I know. Suddenly doing the laundry becomes an important time to get up from my chair and move.
Good idea, Carol. A bit of dusting here, a swipe or two of the vacuum there. Kill two birds.
I don’t have to remind myself too often … two girls, one old cat, two kittens, two sheep … they all call for me! I love it. 🙂
Well, then, your challenge is the opposite from us sitters–how to glue together more than a few minutes to do concentrated work.
Absolutely! I long for concentrated time. And then you feel like such a thief for concentrated time … especially when you home school.
Do you call the sheep baaaaaack?
I spent ALL DAY working on that.
This post is so me! Thank you, Janet! I think I need more coffee … and the coffee pot is in the kitchen … time to get up and move.
Taking coffee breaks help as long as we walk around the house a bit as we sip.
If you adopt the healthful habit of drinking lots of water throughout the day you WILL get up more often. Then I suppose if I were really trying, I’d head for the bathroom upstairs rather than the one across the hall!
Too funny, Sarah. I need to drink more water. My one good thing is I DO head for the upstairs bathroom. 🙂
Great idea … more water intake!
Earl Grey has water in it. 🙂
It certainly does, Jennifer. I have a confession … I had to google “Earl Grey.” I really did.
I laughed out loud at that!
I hear your sweet laugh!
Janet, I’m glad you shared this. I spend a lot of time sitting, and I had no idea how bad sitting is for the body. It sounds like I’ll be setting a timer for 55 minutes so I can remember to get up and walk. 🙂
I was pretty stunned as well, Jeanne. But once I understood it’s about circulation, I felt better equipped to set up a plan.
I actually knew this, from my years of experience dealing with a back injury (pregnant women need to be taught how to sneeze PROPERLY, and I’m totally serious) and subsequently, some truly awful nerve pain in my back, legs and feet.
Moving around, and not crossing the legs and ankles is the key to back health.
And as I wrote that, I had one leg slung over the other. But hey, at least my chair twists and I can call that “moving”, right?
Not crossing even the ankles is hard for me. I know it’s bad for circulation, but that position makes me feel “tucked away.” Ugh. So hard to unlearn all these habits.
Oh my, yes, I like that! “Tucked away”.
One thing about my spinny office chair is that I’m a but of a child when it comes to making it move. So even if I’m sitting, I’m moving my feet and at least some of the rest of me.
Skyping, or filming a vlog, looks funny because I cannot sit still.
What do you think of treadmill desks? I don’t have one but they could be a solution to this.
Thanks for the reminder!
jill
Jill, the treadmill desk might be just the answer. Although it seems to me that some people find them impossible to work on.
This is exactly why I get up and do household chores in between working. I eat breakfast and check emails, then go downstairs to wash dishes, put in a load of laundry and feed the birds. Then back to work until the load of laundry is done and it’s back downstairs to to toss it from washer to dryer and pick up a room or make the beds. That’s the way the day goes so that I don’t sit for too long. I also try to walk around the neighborhood a few times a week.
Sounds like you’ve worked out a great, healthy system.
My office now has a number of people who have rigged their computer workstation to a comfortable height where they can stand for hours on end while doing their work. There is also one person who sits on a giant ball when he is at his workstation.
As for me, I get up and stretch and tried to walk around a little bit. This year I have been feeling more stiffed than usual. I think arthritis may be settling in.
Apparently the standing is better than sitting but not a fix for the circulation issue. I would think that’s true for the ball as well. While you are working your core to stay situated on your ball, you aren’t moving your legs to increase circulation.
Janet, thanks SO much for sharing! I’ve actually worried about all the sitting I do now that I’m a SAHM/writer. For eleven years, I worked at a bank, and I zipped around back and forth all day…For the last year, I’ve spent a lot of time stationary. I do have two toddlers to look after, and they cause me to get up and walk around FAR more often than I would otherwise. Still, this was a good reminder not to neglect my health.
Toddlers will be a big help in keeping you moving, for sure! I’m trying to conscientiously walk for five minutes each hour. As Andrew said, it’s a new habit so it feels like a lot of work right now.
From an article in the latest issue of The Week: “To delay aging, spend more time standing up . . . Sitting and sedentary behavior [may be] an important and new health hazard of our time.” Oy.
I use an uber-low-tech “cardboard box” method of raising and lowering my monitor and keyboard on cardboard boxes to vary between standing and sitting. It works but it’s a pain to keep moving the boxes. I might try sitting at my main computer for writing, but standing at my laptop for e-mail and web-surfing (perched on a tall bookcase…the laptop, not me). I also sit on an exercise ball instead of a chair, which is supposed to be good for one’s core, trying to keep in balance. I’m taking it on faith whether it does any good or not.
Jenny, I think your efforts will help keep the blood circulating, but according to what I’ve read, it’s not a solution. Only moving the legs to improve blood flow solves our unhealthy habit of being immobile for long periods of time.
Okay, you’ve convinced me. Five minutes out of every hour will find me dancing around my office to something festive on iTunes. It’s worth mentioning that I work at home, alone.
I might even dust, a little. Or vacuum. But let’s not get crazy. 🙂
Jenny, my housekeeper kept having to miss rescheduled cleaning days because she had car troubles. My assistant, smart alec that she is, suggested I could really get my blood circulating by vacuuming. I found that remark unhelpful and therefore ignored it.
Hey now! Just using the D word made me nervous.
Thank you, Janet, for being specific about the cause and effect. It’s sobering. I really appreciate that you included the suggestion of getting up and walking around every hour for 5 minutes.
Although I already get interrupted by household needs, I was not being deliberate enough in avoiding long sitting spells.
I read your post last night and have made it my goal to walk the inside or outside loop for 5 min. once per hour while I memorize the morning Scripture (I’d like to challenge the other writers to give it a try.)
It makes my day to nail two needs with one stone.
Blessings ~ Wendy ❀
Wendy, what an excellent plan to incorporate time memorizing Scripture while you walk. I’m all about efficiency too.
Coffee. And I work in 20-30 minute bursts of concentration. When one ends I usually get up, pace, stretch, let the dog out or in, or do a small household chore, while my brain is still churning away on what I’ll write next.
You’ve established excellent habits, Lori. I hope to be joining you regularly in the moving around while my brain churns.
I’m also choosing to walk while I’m on the phone–as long as I don’t need to take notes.
I needed to read this so I have retweeted it.
Thanks, Roger. I’m glad the post was helpful.
So interesting, and I’m so guilty of this! I can start writing in the early mornings (when I’m smarter) and just keep going straight through lunch without stopping–the whole time thinking, in a minute I’ll get up and …
I do walk to the mailbox most days, and our driveway is about 1/3 a mile long, and I LOVE my yoga classes at the Y. I think it helps that I really do enjoy my forms of exercise.
But if I’m not careful, I can revert to my unhealthy ways of writing like a madwoman!
Great topic, Janet.
Julie, lots of portions of what I read about sitting were disturbing to me, but I confess to being perturbed that Zumba and walking my dog weren’t enough to counteract all the harm I’m doing by plunking myself down in a chair in the morning and not rising until (except for potty breaks and filling my water glass) all day.
Julie, I usually compete with my daughter for the mailbox walk. My drive is not nearly as long as yours, but it’s still a good walk. I’ll walk out … she’ll run past and grab the mail before I get there! But hey, I walked. 🙂
I developed blood clots in my legs from long bouts of sitting! Some were travel-related, but I had a bout where the clot traveled to my lungs! That was a horrible experience and a wake-up call. Now I’m on blood thinner for life, so I am very aware of the medical issues that can come from a writer’s sedentary lifestyle.
I purchased one of those cushions with the tail-bone area cut out, and that seems to help with the leg issue. Somehow the pressure points are different than regular sitting and it allows for better blood flow.
In addition, I set a periodic alarm on my computer, get up and stretch, and make myself go up and down the stairs.
Nancy, that’s sobering to read about the negative effects you experienced from prolonged sitting. Truly life threatening! And we need to think not just how long we sit at our desks but also how long we sit when we travel–whether by car or plane. And I have to add in sitting in front of the TV at night; it’s the way I relax but adds several hours to my sedentary lifestyle.
The donut cushion is an interesting idea. I wouldn’t have thought that would have any effect on blood flow. Thanks for letting us know.
I get up and go looking for my cat. I’m paranoid about needing to know where she is, because she once disappeared for three days and almost died of the wounds she got while she was gone. I also trek up our long driveway to get the mail.
So far we have pets, toddlers, household chores and the mail that spur many of us into movement. My dog does go in and out the door a lot during the day because he’s hoping something more stimulating than my tapping on a keyboard is happening outside.
A well known personal trainer suggests doing three exercises during commercial breaks on T.V.: sit-ups, squats, and push-ups. Keep doing 10 sets of each exercise until the commercials end. While this applies to watching television, you can easily do this when writing. Just set the timer to go off every 15 minutes or so.
Wait. This assumes one COULD do that many exercises…
The dogs, laundry, dishes, phone, etc. are among the distractions that help me get out of the chair. I was told by my physical therapist that the stomach muscles aren’t engaged after 20 minutes of sitting. Even as simple as standing up and sitting back down reengages those muscles. I’ve been known to write while standing (like now) because I just can’t stand sitting for too long. That, and I get sciatica shooting down my right leg! Ouch!
Sherry, that’s another sobering stat about the stomach muscles.
Thank you for posting this, Janet. Almost lost my father twice due to clots. Get up and move!
Kathryn, I know, blood clots are so deadly. Those recent studies were sobered.
I work in an office most of the day. So, I set reminders on my Outlook calendar 🙂
Marilyn, good plan.
thank you for shining a spotlight on this hazrd of writing. i’m actively trying to reverse some effects of being so sedentary that my weight & blood pressure climbed to an unhealthy degree. it just kind of snuck up on me! now i’m hitting the gym 4x a week tring to improve my health. started feeling better the first week! activity=good:-)
Jessi, what a wonderful breakthrough for you.
Hi,
I am writing a book W.F.M.P. WowFactorMasterPlan it’s the book I would love to read about peoples culminative detrimental day to day habits.
I have access to a large group of self employed people who I am surveying.
Astonishingly the average amount of waking hours spent sitting was 10-12 a day with no exercise being taken and between 10lb and 3 stone being the ideal weight loss!
All scary stats for the N.H.S.
Schools are the best place to get message across as old habits are too hard to reverse.
The Gym Mistress, I wish I found those stats startling, but I don’t. The majority of people I know work long hours that consist of sitting in front of a computer. It’s hard to want to exercise when you’ve put in a long day.
Follow me on @Gymmistress
Hi Janet!
Great post. My cousin (also an attorney) uses a stand-up desk and a super-slow treadmill every day at work. I’m still trying to sit still long enough to finish my book.
http://texaslawyer.typepad.com/texas_lawyer_blog/2008/07/walking-while-h.html
Love your blog and will talk with you soon,
Kaye
Kaye, okay, you have the opposite problem–not sitting long enough to get your book written! That’s funny.
I nominate toddlers for everyone. That would give their mommies and daddies time to SIT and the rest of us reason for exercise! LOL
Seriously, Janet, thank you for this post. I know sitting is bad, but this is a doable solution to the problem.
Sue, I love the toddler idea. Although I am pretty happy being able to set my own times to walk for five minutes…
Staying well hydrated with water and tea. Nature makes sure I move regularly. Maybe not quite hourly, but pretty close. And since I’m up then, I might as well refill the water bottle and tea mug . . .
Second time I’ve heard this lately! But I hadn’t heard that regular exercise wasn’t helping. Bummer! And I’ve been so proud of myself for my new daily routine. I’ll need to find a way to get up and move. Maybe if I put my coffee by the elliptical… 🙂
April, I’m bummed about regular exercising not working to solve the problem as well. That seems downright unfair.
Always a good reminder. Passing this on to everyone!
That’s a good idea, Sarah!
“I just love takin’ a break and sittin’ back and thinkin’ bout how much I’m always sittin’ back – thinking’ bout how come I’m always takin’ way too many breaks.
I tried one of those balance balls to help with the hard-chair syndrome. First I had to climb up on the thing, then I had to keep myself from falling off. Not doing that again. I bought a quality chair with good back support, and a Siamese cat whose greatest joy is to interrupt me with a demand to play with her.
Bonnie, a cat would be much more fun than a balance ball. But cats do snooze for a good portion of the day…
This is terrifying! I was just talking about having a ‘standing’ desk today. I think I’m going to invest in something where I work standing up, as I sit more hours than I care to admit. Thank you so much for sharing this information! It’s shocking but necessary for all of us to know.
Kristina, the studies seem to indicate that standing is better than sitting simply because you have to use more muscles to stand. But that doesn’t address the most dangerous aspect of sitting: lack of blood flow. Only actually moving gets the blood to flow as it needs to. I’m afraid we’re all stuck with scheduling those five-minute walking breaks.