Have you been sitting for a long time during the Chinese New Year? What are the harms of sitting for a long time? You will be surprised after reading this

Expert of this article: Li Siwei, Secretary General of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Research Center of the Chinese Women's Physicians Association, Director of the Rehabilitation Medicine Center of Beijing Jingmei Group General Hospital

The Spring Festival holiday always goes by quickly, and it is already the sixth day of the Lunar New Year. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, people tend to go out less.

So think back, how did you spend the previous few days?

Some people may be following the drama:

Some people may be playing games:

Others may play cards at home:

Of course, some people may be working overtime:

When everyone does these things, they all have one thing in common, which is that they need to sit all the time!

What happens if you sit for a long time? People on the Internet have been saying that sitting for a long time has various harmful effects. Is it really that terrible?

Let’s learn about it together today!

How long is considered sitting for a long time?

Generally speaking, sitting for more than 5 days a week, more than 8 hours a day, or maintaining a sitting position for more than 2 hours at a time are both considered "sitting for a long time."

That is to say, even if you get up and change your posture every 30 minutes, if the total sitting time in a week exceeds 40 hours, it is still considered sitting for a long time!

It seems that not only is it difficult to get rid of the shadow of sitting for long periods of time when you stay at home during the Chinese New Year, but you will continue to be "infected" when you return to the office to work after the Chinese New Year!

So, what are the dangers of sitting for a long time?

What are the dangers of sitting for a long time?

In fact, the harm of long-term sitting to the body is closely related to the rapid development of human science and technology in recent years.

A long, long time ago, in order to adapt to the ancient hunting and gathering life, the human musculoskeletal system took millions of years to evolve into a pattern suitable for movement. In the past few hundred years, especially in the past hundred years, the development of science and technology has been measured in decades or even years.

This has changed the human lifestyle too quickly and too thoroughly. Especially for evolution, it is just a blink of an eye. The human musculoskeletal system is far from being prepared for the current era that requires a lot of "sitting".

A system that is designed for motion will inevitably run into problems if it has to remain stationary for a long time.

The first is of course musculoskeletal problems, including chronic muscle strain in the neck, shoulders, waist and legs, cervical and lumbar spondylosis caused by long-term excessive pressure on the spine, hip, knee and ankle pain caused by long-term poor posture, etc. Sitting for a long time not only hurts the waist, it will damage the entire spine and even the entire musculoskeletal system.

Secondly, there are various metabolic and vascular problems caused by long-term sitting. Obesity, type 2 diabetes, various cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases... have all been proven to be related to a sedentary lifestyle. In other words, people who sit for a long time have a higher probability of developing diabetes and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and have a higher all-cause mortality rate. People who sit for a long time are more likely to "die early."

But the current situation is that it is difficult to avoid sitting for a long time in the office, and we have to sit for a long time at home during rest time. How can we remedy this after sitting for a long time?

How to remedy sitting for a long time?

The first thing is to avoid sitting for long periods of time. The American Diabetes Association recommends avoiding sitting for more than 90 minutes. That is, after sitting for an hour and a half, you can stand up and walk around, or lie down and take a break.

You also need to pay attention to your sitting posture. Try to keep three right angles: the calves, thighs and torso, upper arms and forearms, and keep your eyes parallel to the computer screen. You can also put a cushion behind your waist to keep your lower back in a natural C-shaped curve. It would be even better if you can use an ergonomically designed chair to support your waist and back when you sit.

If conditions permit, you can alternate between standing and sitting, standing or sitting for one to one and a half hours, which helps to reduce spinal pressure and relieve muscle fatigue. You can stand up and continue playing on your phone, and in theory, you can also stand for a while and then sit down to play!

Of course, doing the above points is far from enough. According to the clinical recommendations of the World Health Organization, adults aged 18-64 should participate in 150-200 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise per week, or about 75 minutes of high-intensity exercise, so as to "offset" some of the negative effects of sitting for a long time on the body.

In addition, there is a "hidden cheat"!

The “Hidden” Remedy

If you really have no choice but to sit for a long time, you can shake your legs while sitting.

Don't laugh yet! A study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine in February 2016 showed that sitting for a long time is harmful to human health, and leg shaking may help offset the negative effects of sitting for a long time.

So, there is really no other choice but to shake my legs when there are not many people around, which means I am moving!

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