12 Unpleasant Consequences of a Sedentary Lifestyle for Men

“Occupational” diseases of office workers

“Every day of a modern person, unfortunately, goes according to a given pattern: first at his desk, then in the car, then at home on his favorite sofa,” says Khamurzova.
“The development of many diseases is associated with a sedentary lifestyle, but the most serious problem is “occupational” diseases of the spine: scoliosis (curvatures), osteochondrosis, and so on.” How to do it right

The head of the exercise therapy department at the Center for Restorative Medicine and Rehabilitation of the Treatment and Rehabilitation Center of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of Russia, Marina Makarova, tells: - how to sit correctly in the office, - how to do exercises in the office, - how to remain a healthy car enthusiast, - what the right shoes should be.

Even if you purchased a special ergonomic chair and adjusted it correctly in height, keep in mind that the resulting load on the spine
in a sitting position is 40 percent higher
than in a standing position. The minor inconveniences of sitting may not seem very important, but they affect the spine constantly, while you are not even aware of it.

How does a sedentary lifestyle affect the body from the inside?

Sitting every day in the office, in public transport, at home at the dining table or on the sofa watching TV has a negative impact not only on posture and muscle tone, but also provokes the development of a wide range of diseases.

Diseases of the musculoskeletal system

Those whose work is closely related to sitting at a computer suffer from lumbar and cervical osteochondrosis. Most often, the localization of cervical osteochondrosis is right-sided, since the right hand works with a computer mouse, writes, and performs other actions.

Also, “adherents” of a sedentary lifestyle often have intercostal neuralgia, lumbago, radiculitis, dizziness and headaches.

Diseases of the cardiovascular system

Slow blood circulation provokes the development of venous insufficiency (varicose veins) and thrombosis. Without proper load, the heart suffers. The heart muscle “gets used” to working at half strength, disrupting the general condition of the circulatory system in the body, which affects all organs. The likelihood of strokes and heart attacks increases. Life expectancy is reduced.

Overweight

Lack of physical activity, non-compliance with the principles of a healthy diet, stress are factors leading to excess weight gain. Sitting in the office, we spend fewer calories than we consume, which causes “beer bellies” to appear, “breeches” in the thighs, and body weight to increase.

According to the forecasts of the weekly medical journal “The Lancet”, by 2025, 20% of our planet’s population will suffer from excess weight, including due to a sedentary lifestyle.

Constipation and hemorrhoids

Impaired intestinal motility, caused by immobility during the day, leads to chronic constipation. Constipation, in turn, becomes the cause of another unpleasant disease - hemorrhoids.

If you have prerequisites for constipation, do not let it become chronic. Warm up, regularly change the position in which you sit, pump up your abs, massage your abdomen, and watch your diet. This will significantly reduce the likelihood of hemorrhoids.

© macrovector — depositphotos.com

Why does the spine suffer?

Working in a sitting position is characterized by narrow specialization and monotony of movements. This is also a certain kind of overload. If you sit at work almost all the time, and even spend 2-3 hours at home in a chair, then you can talk about a sedentary lifestyle. “It seems like a rest for the spine, and that’s all,” notes Khamurzova, “but in reality we are dealing with chronic overload.” Spinal overload
is a consequence of the constant, subtle, but extremely monotonous static effect of gravity.

What does a sedentary lifestyle lead to, and why is it dangerous?

The consequences of a sedentary lifestyle are much more dangerous than many people think. This is a deterioration in the quality of life and a reduction in its duration.

If you spend 8 hours sitting at work every day and prefer to drive home instead of walking, you risk living 15-17 years less than those who sit less than 3 hours a day and try to move actively.

What are the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle? Judge for yourself!

1. The heart muscle is the first to suffer from immobility. The lack of active physical movements and cardiovascular exercise causes the heart to make less productive contractions, which significantly reduces the tone of the vascular walls.
2. Spine. While sitting, we load it almost twice as much as when we stand or walk.
3. Poor blood circulation in the brain provokes dizziness, tinnitus, fatigue, and decreased productivity.
4. Without activity, muscles lose tone. This leads to rapid physical fatigue, apathy, and a feeling of constant fatigue.
5. Low mobility leads to metabolic disorders. Blood moves more slowly through the body and does not sufficiently saturate the cells with oxygen and nutrients.
6. Sitting in one place for a long time provokes stagnation of blood and lymph in the pelvis, negatively affecting the functioning of the intestines and genitourinary system.

Mechanics of “sitting” injuries

The matter is further complicated by the fact that when sitting (usually at a table) you do not care about maintaining correct posture, since after a certain period of time the untrained back muscles begin to get tired. They can no longer provide correct posture
, and the spine bends slightly. In this physiologically incorrect position, the anterior sections of the intervertebral discs are compressed, while the posterior sections are stretched. In this position, the intervertebral disc loses its elasticity and wears out faster. If, when a person is sitting, the body is pushed forward or the head is strongly lowered, then a lever is created between the body and the vertebral body, which greatly increases the pressure on this vertebra. Therefore, an incorrect sitting posture can affect the spine as negatively as lifting excessive weights.

How to avoid the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle?

Even if you have a clear idea of ​​the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle, you are unlikely to be able to completely get rid of it. Shouldn’t you give up a promising job in a good office or the clients you’ve accumulated through many years of freelance work? And not everyone has the opportunity to get to work on foot to compensate for the harm of sitting for eight hours.

What to do? Exercise, nutritional adjustments, and little tricks that you can use in your workplace today will help reduce the negative impact of sitting at your workplace.

Physical activity + exercises you can do right at your workplace

Try to change your body position every 15-20 minutes. Get up from your desk more often to stretch, do a couple of side bends, and stretch your legs. This way the blood in the body will circulate normally.

Exercises you can do while sitting at your desk:

1. Sit back in your chair and straighten your legs. Bend and straighten your knees 10-15 times each.
2. Straighten your leg, pull up your toes and perform circular movements with your ankle 10-15 times on each leg.
3. Slowly rotate your head clockwise and counterclockwise 5 times.
4. With cervical osteochondrosis, it is advisable not to make rotational movements of the head. Instead, stretch your arms out to the sides and try to reach your left shoulder with your right hand, placing your right hand behind your head. Do this 15-20 times with one and the other hand, and then 15-20 times with both hands at the same time. Pull the top of your head up. Try not to tilt your head forward.
5. Do 10 shoulder rolls back and 10 forwards.
6. Tighten and relax your buttock muscles 20-25 times.
7. While sitting on a chair, alternately raise and lower your right and left arms 10-15 times.
8. Place one palm against the other and forcefully press your palms against each other. Keep your palms tense several times for 10-15 seconds.
9. Squeeze and unclench your fingers. Stretch with your fingers interlocked.
10. Lower your arms along your body, relax them and shake your hands for a few seconds.
11. Move your chair back, lean forward and bring your shoulder blades together as much as possible. Repeat several times.
12. Sit on the edge of a chair, straighten up and suck in your stomach for a few seconds. Do at least 50 times.
13. Alternately lift your toes and heels off the floor.
14. Lift your shoulders up as you inhale and sharply “throw” them down as you exhale.
15. Move away from the table, straighten your legs and try to reach the toes of your shoes as much as possible with your fingers.
16. Take off your shoes and roll a glue stick or other round stationery across the floor.

Try to make such a warm-up a “mandatory program” every day. Don't be afraid to cause confusion among your work colleagues. Remember that preventing a problem is much better than fighting it. Below is a video that will help you have a clearer understanding of gymnastics right “on a chair”:

Don't forget about morning exercises. Let her become your faithful companion every morning. Table with exercises for morning exercises:

Download the list of exercises here so you don’t lose it.

© macrovector — depositphotos.com. Pyramid of gradual increase in physical activity

Nutrition

In order not to gain excess weight, to always be full of strength and energy, it is important not only to maintain physical activity, but also to monitor nutrition. Going on a strict diet is not an option: since the body already suffers from a lack of activity and a slow metabolism, strict dietary restrictions will not benefit it.

Four simple rules of nutrition for a sedentary lifestyle:

1. Follow a meal schedule. Eating at the same time disciplines, helps plan work time taking into account the lunch break, and promotes maximum absorption of nutrients and vitamins from food. All meals, even snacks, should be fixed in time.
2. Eat smaller portions. Get up from the table feeling like you haven't eaten enough. A slight feeling that you are hungry is good for the body. Dull it with a healthy snack: a banana, nuts, an apple, a mug of tea. The total number of meals per day should be at least 5.
3. If you work in an office, don't forget to have breakfast at home. Breakfast is an important meal for the body. By skipping it, you disrupt your entire diet.
4. Eliminate fast food from your diet. Pizza, burgers, buns, cakes and other sweets are contraindicated for a sedentary lifestyle. They contain too many calories that you simply cannot burn while typing on your keyboard throughout the day.

© BVDC01 — depositphotos.com

Other tips

If it is impossible to escape from a sedentary lifestyle, make sure that it causes as little harm as possible. Since you spend most of your time sitting at your desk, consider ways to stay physically active while at work.

Three tips for setting up your workplace:

1. Remove unnecessary objects that may prevent you from stretching your legs under your desk and stretching them during the day.
2. If possible, have snacks, tea and lunch not at your workplace, but in a special designated area of ​​the office or in the kitchen. To do this, you will at least get up from your chair and walk around, plus you can stand by the window while you drink tea.
3. Try to get out of your chair more often. Even if you have the necessary documents and objects at arm's length, do not drive up to them in a chair and do not ask your colleagues to hand them over, but stand up and take them yourself.

The main “sedentary” sores

The main diseases of the spine that develop as a result of prolonged sitting are osteochondrosis and scoliosis (various curvatures of the spine). If the possibility of developing spinal curvature
is greater at an early age, then osteochondrosis is dangerous for people of all ages.
It is also worth noting that the consequences of osteochondrosis are more dangerous than the consequences of various types of spinal curvature. “Many people probably know first-hand what osteochondrosis
,” says Khamurzova. “It is believed that this is a disease of older people, but this is not entirely true.” The disease has been getting younger lately, and the reasons for this are: scoliosis, sedentary lifestyle, excess weight, prolonged stay in an uncomfortable position, metabolic disorders. The risk group primarily includes people leading a sedentary lifestyle.

Metabolic syndrome

This problem has become one of the main signs of the modern “office plankton”. Scientists like to give the example that previously, in order to feed themselves, a person was forced to run after a mammoth several kilometers a day. Now you don’t need to run anywhere - you can order groceries online. Why, human movements today have been reduced as much as possible. Even in order to turn up the volume on the TV, you don’t need to get up from the couch. As a result, many people do not notice how they are gaining excess weight, which leads to the development of metabolic syndrome, which over time can “develop” into type 2 diabetes.

Solution to the problem.

To avoid such a scenario, it is necessary to maintain a balance between the calories eaten and the body's energy expenditure. Nutritionists note that 1200 kcal per day is enough for a person with a sedentary job. Can't limit yourself to them? Then the gym is the place for you.

What to do?

Not every person has the opportunity to exchange sedentary work for something else just for the sake of health. However, to reduce the risk of developing spinal diseases, it is enough to follow a few rules. 1. Control your own posture
.
Make sure you're sitting correctly until you get used to it. If you can’t control your posture on your own, ask your colleagues or, if you work from home, your household for help. 2. Teach children
to sit at the table correctly from childhood.
This will save them from possible problems in the future. 3. Change the position of the spine
, and replace the static load with a dynamic one.
To do this, get up from your chair, armchair or sofa every hour for at least 10 minutes. At work, you can take a walk, do a few office exercises, climb the stairs, or discuss business with colleagues. At home, do your homework - there will always be a corner with unwiped dust or a need to hang out the washed laundry. And you can do more complex exercises at home without the embarrassment of prying eyes. 4. Do exercises to strengthen your back muscles and strengthen your abdominal muscles. They won’t take much time, but they will help you maintain correct posture— if you have an untrained back
.

What kind of lifestyle is considered sedentary?

Inactivity or physical inactivity is a disruption of the body's activity due to insufficient physical activity or its absence.

The problem of a sedentary lifestyle arose as a result of scientific and technological progress, urbanization, and the spread of means of communication, which simplified our life and replaced active types of recreation (walks, outdoor games).

Determining whether you lead a “active” or sedentary lifestyle is very simple. If you do not move actively during the day for at least half an hour, this is considered inactive. Active movements mean walking, running, and physical exercise.

Cleaning and performing normal household chores do not count as activity. During their execution, the necessary load on the body muscles is not created. When working around the house, we occupy incorrect postures that leave many muscle groups unused.

© macrovector — depositphotos.com

The most important

A sedentary lifestyle is just as dangerous to the body as regularly lifting heavy weights.
As a rule, constant sitting causes the development of osteochondrosis, a serious disease that brings chronic back pain and impaired blood supply to the brain. The only way to avoid these serious consequences is to move as often as possible. Tags:

• Workout
• Physical inactivity
• Back
• Office
• Khamurzova

1 comment • To leave a comment you must be an authorized user

• tanchurana I completely agree, I removed my daughter’s computer chair. She put in a regular one, with a high, flat back. At first she was indignant at how softly you could turn in all directions. But here you sit stupidly straight. It’s okay, I’m used to it. I myself pay a lot of attention to how the computer is positioned , table height, every 40 minutes I get up and do a stretching exercise: stand in the pose of a sumo fighter, exhale, inhale through the nose, exhale completely through the mouth, hold the exhalation for 10 seconds and at the same time straighten up, stretch, tensing all the muscles of the body. Then inhale and relax .I repeat three times.

Rules for proper landing

The chair on which you are sitting must have a back: the lower part of the back must rest against the back, the back of the chair must have a convexity that follows the curve of the spine. The stool should not be too soft. The height of the chair should be such that your feet are on the floor at an angle of 90 degrees. The table should be of such a height that the arm bent at the elbow can reach the nose with the index finger. The computer should be standing directly in front of you, your head should not be tilted or thrown back, but as if suspended by a thread by the crown of your head. There should be enough free space below the table so that you can relax and stretch your legs. You cannot cross your legs: this interferes with blood circulation.

Diseased blood vessels and heart

Sedentary work leads to cardiovascular diseases, from which more than half of Russians die today. With a lack of movement, the blood is poorly saturated with oxygen, which is required for the functioning of the heart muscle. And constantly being indoors does not contribute to a sufficient supply of oxygen either.

Solution to the problem.

Whenever possible, try to arrange walks in the fresh air. To give yourself an incentive to leave your home even in bad weather, get a dog - then you will be provided with at least two walks every day. If you don't want pets, that's your right. Then, for example, you can get into the healthy habit of running in the morning. Or sign up for a swimming pool. Other aerobic exercise, such as cycling or skiing, is also beneficial.

How our brain works

The brain is an organ that constantly requires nourishment. It weighs only about 2% of the human body's mass, but at the same time uses almost 20% of its energy reserves, presented in the form of glucose, the main brain fuel.

If the energy supply process is disrupted, hypoxia occurs. This can damage and destroy brain cells. Therefore, this nutrient is crucial for the health of our thinking center. Today it is reliably known: if the brain regularly does not receive enough glucose, the risk of developing senile dementia increases significantly. The central nervous system receives its “food”, like oxygen and absolutely all useful substances, from the blood.

Content:

• How our brain works
• Sitting and glucose levels
• Sitting and circulation
• What's the worst thing about sitting for your brain?
• Inactivity causes the brain to dry out

Therefore, for it to work, it is necessary that blood circulate through the vessels of the body without interruption. And this information is the minimum that everyone should know about how their brain works. But what does sitting position have to do with it and how does low mobility affect these processes?

Haemorrhoids

In recent years, it has become not only a disease of truck drivers, but also an occupational disease of managers. Its cause is the same stagnation of blood in the pelvic area.

Unfortunately, it is not very easy to treat. Often, hemorrhoids become chronic, which is manifested by periodic pain, bleeding, and itching. In some cases, it will not be possible to do without surgery. The main thing is to consult a proctologist in time.