We stand around a lot here at
Men’s Health. In
fact, a few of us don’t even have office chairs. Instead, we write,
edit, and answer e-mails―a lot of e-mails―while standing in front of our
computers. All day long. Why?
It all started last summer, when Assistant Editor Maria Masters came across a shocking study in the Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise
(one of dozens of research journals we comb each month as we put
together the magazine). Scientists at the Pennington Biomedical Research
Center in Louisiana analyzed the lifestyles of more than 17,000 men and
women over about 13 years, and found that people who sit for most of
the day are 54 percent more likely to die of heart attacks. That’s right―I said 54 percent!
Masters
immediately called the lead researcher at Pennington, a professor named
Peter Katzmarzyk. Turns out, this wasn’t the first study to link
sitting and heart disease.
Similar research actually dates back to 1953, when British researchers
found that (sitting) bus drivers were twice as likely to die of heart
attacks as (standing) trolley operators. Here’s the most surprising part: “We see it in people who smoke and people who don’t,” Katzmarzyk told Masters. “We see it in people who are regular exercisers and those who
aren’t.
Sitting is an independent risk
factor.” In other words, it doesn’t matter how
much you exercise or how well you eat. If you sit most of the day, your
risk of leaving this world clutching your chest―whether you’re a man or
women―as much as doubles.
This raised a rather obvious question: Why? Truth is, the
researchers aren’t sure. But Marc Hamilton, Ph.D., one of Katzmarkzyk’s
colleagues, suspects it has to do with an enzyme
called lipoprotein lipase (LPL), which breaks down fat in the
bloodstream and turns it into energy. Hamilton found that standing rats
have ten times more of the stuff coursing through their bodies than
laying rats. It doesn’t matter how fit the rats are; when they leave
their feet, their LPL levels plummet. Hamilton believes the same happens
in humans. Still sitting? Then you should know that your office chair also:
1. Screws up your posture. The fascia, the tissue that connects individual muscles into a
full-body network, begins to set when you stay in one position for too
long, says
Men’s Health advisor Bill Hartman, P.T.,
C.S.C.S.,
a physical therapist in Indianapolis. If you’re hunched over a keyboard all day, this eventually becomes your normal posture.
2. Makes you fatter.
This happens for two reasons. First, you burn 60 more calories an hour
when standing versus sitting. But more importantly, says Hartman, when
you spend too much time sitting, your largest muscle group―the glutes
(a.k.a. your butt)―become lazy and quit firing. This is called gluteal amnesia. And it means you burn fewer calories. 3. Causes lower back pain.
Weak glutes push your pelvis forward, putting stress on the spine, says
Hartman. Here’s the other unseemly thing that happens when your pelvis
tilts forward: Your belly protrudes, making you look 5 months pregnant.
So what’s a desk-bound worker to do? First, Hamilton suggests you
change how you think about fitness. We have a tendency to segment our
lives―work, home, and downtime. Exercise falls into the last category,
something we squeeze into our busy schedules when possible. But if you
stop thinking about exercise as an activity, and instead think of it as a
lifestyle, it’s easier to make healthy choices throughout the day.
In other words: Stop trying to be fit, and start trying to live fit.
Second, of course, is to stand more throughout the day. These strategies will get you up on your feet more often:
Strategy #1: Take
two breaks an hour. Grab a drink from the water fountain. Pop over to
the cube next door to say hi. Or simply stand and stretch for a minute. A
European Heart Journal study of 5,000 men and women found that the quarter who took the most breaks during the day were 1.6 inches thinner than
the quarter who took the least.
Strategy #2: Stand
during phone calls. It may seem like a small thing but, as Hamilton
told Masters: “Small choices will help move you in the right direction. .
. . It all adds up, and it all matters.”
Strategy #3:
Don’t write long emails. If crafting an email will take longer than 15
minutes, go talk to the person instead. Or stand up and call them.
And if that’s not enough (and it may not be) . . .
Strategy #4: Ask
HR for a standup desk. Australian researchers found that workers who
log more than 6 hours of seat time a day are up to 68 percent more
likely to be overweight. If you make the changes above and your
waistline isn’t shrinking, a standup desk may be the answer. Make sure
the screen is at arm’s length, and the top at eye level. Position the
keyboard so your elbows are bent 90 degrees. Men’s Health Senior
Editor Bill Stieg built his own. Check it out.
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