If you’re reading this article while sitting at your desk, stand up!
A new study published earlier this week, yielded a life-threatening warning to chronic “sitters,” saying that they could lose two years of their life.
The study as featured on USNews.com was conducted at Louisiana State University’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center.
Researcher Peter Katzmarzyk suggested that simply sitting too much is risky behavior when it comes to your health. "It's right in the same ballpark as smoking and obesity—sedentary behavior is in the same category."
Katzmarzyk told Bloomberg.com, “It’s about the inactivity in your muscles. When you’re sitting your legs are completely inactive.” He said that just getting your 30 minutes of exercise in a day is not enough to combat these dire statistics if you choose to sit for the duration of the rest of the day.
Most Americans have been categorized as “desk jockies” sitting in their cubicles or home offices most of the day. The study involved more than just Americans.
USNews.com says the study looked at “an analysis of five large-scale studies following about 2 million people in several different countries,” which led to the resultant conclusion of the life expectancy loss of two years.
In fact according to a prior study out of Britain, “In a typical working week, people spend on average 5 hours and 41 minutes per day sitting at their desk.”
That study as featured on ScienceDaily.com found that sitting at work may not only affect your physical health by potentially causing you to sit more at home, but it also can result in a higher body mass index, as well as affect your psychological health.
The study results show, that when we sit more at work we can also experience a decrease in our mental well-being.
So what can you do to combat the downright hazards of sitting on the job? Experts suggest spending a little more time being upright.
According to LiveStrong.com, “The simple act of standing up instead of sitting may help you burn as many as 50 more calories per hour, depending on your size.”
So push away from the conference table and stand during meetings.