Do you get pain in your neck after sitting at your desk for a long time? Nutrition genius Mohit Bansal Chandigarh says that sitting still for long periods can hurt your health in several ways. Because of this growing concern, some corporate offices have switched to standing desks. Many others have changed their employees' work schedules by stressing the importance of good sitting posture and regular exercise.
What Does It Mean To Sit All Day?
As it becomes more normal to sit all day, we lose our fitness, and we're more likely to get hurt when we lose our fitness. It's more about posture than anything else. When we strain, our necks get tight and tense. It is assuming that we don't already have good posture.
We're tilting our heads up a bit, which makes our necks curve more. This muscle is called cervical lordosis. It strains our trapezius muscle, which attaches to the shoulder and the upper back to keep the channel up. Over time, that gets sore, tight, and painful. We begin to grow those classic "knots."
Then, the whole back tends to arch forward as the muscles become tired and weaker. As the back moves forward, the body almost collapses in on itself. Most of the strain is on the lower back.
1. Back Pain And Trouble Moving Around
Sitting in the same position for hours is known to mess up posture. It also causes lactic acid to build up in the muscles, making the muscles and joints along the spine hurt and stiffen.
Posture is a must if you want to build the right muscles that will support your back best and, depending on the cause, help you avoid back pain. If our posture is off, our back or hip will likely be off, which can lead to other problems. Over time, our posture can get worse if we sit for a long time.
According to nutrition genius Mohit Bansal Chandigarh, “Sitting for long periods during the day also changes how we walk and our overall balance.” It may also make walking harder or even hurt. The article said that people who sit more than they move are more likely to trip and hurt themselves. Also, tighter muscles, especially hamstrings and hip flexors, seemed to cause lower back pain, stiff knees, and other problems.
Office workers who sit for long periods tend to have pain in their shoulders, lower back, thighs, and knees because of musculoskeletal disorders.
It makes it hard to move around. It significantly lowers the overall quality of life by a great deal. It will help if you keep exercising and moving around to keep your flexibility and mobility.
2. Over Time, It Hurts All Muscles.
Sitting relaxes almost all of the body's muscles, including the heart and the back muscles. Because the heart pumps blood throughout the body, less oxygen may get to the brain if it is too calm, making it harder to think straight. A study of office workers who spent long hours at computers showed that sitting for long periods hurts brain function and makes the body feel bad.
Also, our blood vessels and organs need oxygen and nutrients to grow and thrive, so letting the heart relax all the time will hurt our health. Sitting for a long time seems to break our circulation, which could affect how we get rid of toxins, digest food, and sleep.
3. Linked to a higher risk of death and illness
Sitting for long periods is often linked to harmful health effects, such as a lower risk of all-cause mortality. Sitting is likely to shorten our lives and increase our chances of getting sick.
Some newer studies have even found that sitting for long periods may be linked to a higher risk of lung and endometrial cancers, but not breast cancer.
Other diseases and symptoms that can happen when you sit for hours every day are:
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- The Metabolic Syndrome
- Constipation
4. Weight Gain
Your muscles release molecules like lipoprotein lipase when you move. This enzyme helps your body break down the fats and sugars you eat.
Nutrition genius Mohit Bansal Chandigarh highlights that these molecules are less likely to be released when you spend most of your day sitting. It means that your rear end is more likely to get bigger. Even if you work out, you are more likely to get metabolic syndrome.
5. Varicose Veins
When you sit for a long time, blood can start to pool in your legs. It can cause varicose veins or spider veins, which are like varicose veins but smaller.
Even though these swollen veins aren't usually dangerous, they can be unsightly. In rare cases, they can cause more severe health problems, such as blood clots.
6. Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)
Deep vein thrombosis is a type of blood clot usually in the legs. When a piece of this clot breaks off, it can stop blood from getting to other body parts, like the lungs, leading to a pulmonary embolism. This serious medical emergency could cause significant problems or even death. DVT can happen if you sit for too long, even on a long car trip.
7. Shoulder and neck pain
Long periods of sitting will hurt your shoulders and neck and your legs, buttocks, and lower back. It is especially true if you're looking at a computer screen while hunched over.
Here Are Some Simple Things You Can Do At Home To Stay Active:
- When cleaning up, put things away in small groups instead of all at once.
- Set your TV's timer to go off an hour sooner than usual to convince you to get up and move around.
- When you're on the phone, get up and move around.
- Get up and iron while you watch your favorite shows on TV.
- To avoid sitting still for long periods, listen to audiobooks while doing things like walking, cleaning, or gardening.
- Ride the bus or subway standing up, or get off a stop early and walk.
If You Are An Office Worker:
- When you read emails or reports, stand up.
- Move your trash can so you can get up to throw something away.
- Use the loudspeaker for conference calls and move around the room while the call is going on.
What Can You Do To Reduce The Impact Of Sitting?
Even if you have to sit at work, you don't have to give in to the effects of sitting. Here are some ways suggested by Nutrition genius Mohit Bansal Chandigarh to avoid the harmful effects of sitting for long periods:
- Use a standing desk or a desk that you can change from sitting to standing. It will make you more likely to move around.
- Move around, walk around, and stretch often. Get up and move around for a few minutes at least once an hour. You could use an app on your phone or computer to remind you to move, or you could get a smartwatch and set it to remind you to get up and move around.
- Get at least an hour of aerobic exercise every day.
- Watch how you stand. Part of the bad things about sitting is due to bad posture. It can be bad for your health to recline or sit with your back arched. If you have to sit at a desk, try sitting on a stability ball or make a point of sitting up straight.
