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Howard J. Luks, MD

Howard J. Luks, MD

Orthopedic Surgeon Sports Medicine Specialist

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Metabolic Health

Sitting IS The New Smoking: Make Your Day a Little Harder

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Howard J. Luks, MD Updated Sep 22, 2021 Read time: 2 mins

sitting is the new smoking

Like it or not, it turns out that sitting is really bad for your health.

Between our jobs, our commute and our desire to rest after a long day with our children or at work — we tend to sit a lot.  To counter that, many of us pound the pavement, hit the gym or head out onto the road on our bikes to put in an hour of hard work.  All good, right?  Nope.

It turns out that sitting leads to significant changes in the bio-markers which align with our risk of developing heart disease and other diseases.  This is true even if you exercise vigorously 1 hour per day.  Yes… Sitting for “too long” can negate the effects of exercise.

This study found that prolonged sitting is positively associated with an increase in “all-cause” mortality.  Simply put, if you sit excessively you have a  higher risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and a diminished cancer survivorship.

The negative effects of sitting too long were even more pronounced in people who performed little or no exercise.

We are not exactly sure of the mechanism why sitting is so bad for our health.  The paper quoted below is probably on point trying to determine why.  It shows that after only 7 days of adopting a lifestyle of sitting too often the volunteers developed significant changes in their lipid profiles, cholesterol, waist size, glucose levels and their body mass index.  So, it appears that glucose and fat metabolism is adversely effected by sitting too long.  We know that these are all high risk factors for diabetes, heart disease, weight gain and “all-cause” morbidity.

Researchers attached a monitor to nearly 700 participants over 7 days and found that each additional 2 hours per day spent sitting was significantly associated with higher body mass index, waist circumference around 2 centimeters, fasting plasma glucose, total/high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol ratio (5%), triglycerides (12%), 2-hour plasma glucose (4%), and with lower HDL cholesterol.

Source: Standing Provides Real Advantages Over Sitting | Medpage Today

What are we to do?

Make Your Day a Little Harder

The answer is obvious … but we do not have exact numbers.  I can’t tell you that sitting for 30 minutes is OK, but 45 minutes is bad.  We do know that if you make the effort to make your day just a little harder you will likely reap significant health related benefits.

How you ask?

Do you have questions regarding an Orthopedic injury or longevity? 

Do you want to talk to an expert who can listen to you for 45-60 minutes and explain the options in detail? 

Dr. Howard Luks offers remote guidance sessions to review your X-ray or MRI images and explain your options. 

Dr. Luks has also received hundreds of requests for educational sessions on the topics discussed in his book, Longevity Simplified.

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  1. Take the stairs
  2. Track your activity level
  3. Load an app that alerts you every 30 minutes to get up and walk around
  4. Get a standing desk
  5. Take the elevator to a different floor and walk up two flights. Walk down if your knees hurt :-)
  6. Have a walking meeting.
  7. Don’t text each other in the house.. go find them.
  8. Don’t email your colleague, go find them.

So, get up, get moving and try not to sit in one place for too long.  Whether you use an app, an alarm or make it a habit to do it every half hour on the hour.. in the long run you will be healthier.

Categories: Metabolic Health Tags: exercise, Mike Evans, sitting

Disclaimer:  this information is for your education and should not be considered medical advice regarding diagnosis or treatment recommendations. Some links on this page may be affiliate links. Read the full disclaimer.
Dr. Howard J. Luks

Howard J. Luks, MD is a leading orthopedic surgeon & sports medicine specialist. An expert in shoulder, knee, and other sports injuries, and author of Longevity... Simplified.

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Further Reading:

man in green crew neck t-shirt sitting on black office rolling chair
Sitting is not the new smoking
Building an exercise routine: The 30-day challenge
walking improves our health
Longevity simplified—lesson 1. Just move more.
man running on seashore
Just move, move often, occasionally with ferocious intent

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. mysummitimaging

    Aug 10, 2015 at 8:48 pm

    Great article, good pointers of how to work on this issue since its such a common issue but easily forgotten. We definitely need to promote this more to everyone we know!

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Dr. Howard J. Luks

Howard J. Luks, MD is a leading orthopedic surgeon & sports medicine specialist. An expert in shoulder, knee, and other sports injuries, and author of Longevity... Simplified.

About · Contact · Private Consultation

Remote Guidance Sessions
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