If you're like most Americans, you spend six-and-a-half to eight hours a day sitting. That puts you at increased risk for obesity, heart disease, a lousy sex life and dementia -- not to mention sore joints, back pain and depression.
The problem is, if you have a desk job, have a commute that takes 90-plus minutes round-trip and enjoy a bit of TV after dinner, it's pretty difficult to reduce your sit-down time. It also may be tough to reduce your sedentary habits if you are ill or have mobility issues.
Well, the good news is that there are three easy-to-do techniques that will reduce the health risks associated with sitting around.
1. Engage your brain. Read, play speed-of-processing online games, draw or paint, talk with friends, and watch shows that really make you think. Get your neurons firing and you'll reduce your risk of dementia.
2. Do sitting exercises for 10 minutes every 60-90 minutes: Try leg lifts; use stretchy bands; throw air punches; and do seated stretches -- they'll get your heart pumping and improve muscle tone.
3. And/or you can stand up every 30 minutes and walk for two to four minutes, do five to 10 jumps, or go up and down a flight of stairs -- whatever wakes up your muscles and increases blood flow.
According to JustStand.org, sitting four hours or less a day puts you at low risk -- and if you start standing for one more hour per day, you'll burn an extra 10,000 calories a year. Rise to the challenge!
Dr. Mike Roizen is the founder of www.longevityplaybook.com, and Dr. Mehmet Oz is global advisor to www.iHerb.com, the world's leading online health store. Roizen and Oz are chief wellness officer emeritus at Cleveland Clinic and professor emeritus at Columbia University, respectively. Together they have written 11 New York Times bestsellers (four No. 1's).
(c)2024 Michael Roizen, M.D.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
(c) 2024 Michael Roizen, M.D. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
