Running or sitting for a long time, which one hurts the knee joint more? The truth is so unexpected

▲ Sitting for a long time is more harmful to the knees than walking

Public Health Sharing Channel Press +

Walking 10,000 steps a day hurts your knees, running at night hurts your joints... Seeing these statements, many people dare not exercise excessively for fear of hurting their knees! Then you feel at ease to choose to sit at home for a long time? The American Journal of Orthopedics and Sports Physical Therapy once published a research article saying: "The incidence of arthritis in people who run for fitness is only 3.5%, while the incidence of arthritis in people who choose a sedentary lifestyle and sit for a long time is 10.2%, and the incidence of arthritis in runners in competitive sports is 13.3%." The conclusion is: sitting for a long time hurts the knees more than walking.

1

Why does sitting for a long time hurt your knees?

Exercise stimulation can make the synovial fluid in the knee flow within the joint, help the knee joint move better, and provide nutrients.

Sitting for a long time will lead to poor blood circulation in the lower limbs, slow metabolism, and reduced synovial fluid secretion in the joint cavity, which increases the risk of lower limb joint injuries and the risk of arthritis in the knees and hips.

There are also these hazards of sitting for a long time:

1. Heart disease

People who sit for long periods of time and do not move much have slower blood circulation, higher blood viscosity, weaker myocardial contraction, and a risk of coronary heart disease that is four times higher than those who exercise regularly or do manual labor. Over time, this can cause heart function decline and cause myocardial atrophy. Especially for middle-aged and elderly people with arteriosclerosis, long periods of sitting and slow blood circulation are most likely to induce myocardial infarction and cerebral thrombosis.

2. Prostatitis

When sitting for a long time, the weight of the upper body is all pressed on the lower body. The prostate located in the perineum is severely harmed by the "heavy pressure", which can easily lead to poor blood circulation in the prostate, accumulation of metabolic products, obstruction of the prostate gland ducts, and poor secretion of glandular fluid, causing chronic congestion of the prostate and further causing prostatitis.

3. Cervical spondylosis

People who sit for a long time often have their heads bent forward, which compresses the blood vessels in the neck, tenses the neck muscles, and reduces the blood and oxygen supply to the brain. The neck ligaments, tendons, and tendon sheaths cannot relax, which will cause cervical bone hyperplasia, calcification and ossification of the neck ligaments, and the cervical spine will become stiff and straight, resulting in different types of cervical spondylosis.

4. Lumbar compression

90% of working time is spent "hunching" in the office. Shi Zhicai stressed that long-term sitting is the most harmful to the waist. When sitting, the pressure on the lumbar spine is 1.5 times that when standing. If the sitting posture is incorrect (such as leaning forward), the pressure on the lumbar spine will be increased, and the pressure may even reach 2.5 times that when standing. Incorrect sitting posture will also cause imbalance in muscle tension on both sides of the spine, thereby compressing the lumbar nerves and causing various discomforts.

5. Varicose veins

When people sit for a long time, or stand or carry heavy loads for a long time, it will lead to increased abdominal pressure, poor venous return in the lower limbs, and increased valve pressure, which will cause varicose veins.

2

How to walk healthily?

Walking is called "the best exercise in the world". Studies have shown that people who walk more are healthier. So how do you walk correctly?

1. Manage your exercise time

Various aerobic exercise guidelines consistently recommend 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise per day and 15 minutes of high-intensity aerobic exercise per day, five times a week. Note: Only effective steps for 30 minutes can achieve the effect of aerobic exercise.

2. Control the optimal heart rate:

Exercise at least 5 times a week to protect your heart. (170-age) beats/minute is a suitable exercise indicator, which can fluctuate up and down by about 10 times. Once you walk too fast and for too long, and feel uncomfortable, you must quickly slow down and walk at a slower speed.

3. Pay attention to the total number of steps per day:

The Chinese Dietary Guidelines recommend that adults take more than 6,000 steps of physical activity every day. This is actually a quantitative treatment of exercise time. Calculated at a frequency of about two steps per second, "6,000 steps" is about 40 minutes of brisk walking. You can also increase or decrease the amount according to your physical condition.

4. Adjust your walking posture

Keep your head up and chest out, eyes looking straight ahead, torso naturally straight, and neck straight; tuck in your abdomen, and move your body's center of gravity slightly forward (twist your hips forward appropriately when walking to allow your abdominal muscles to bear more of the force); coordinate your upper and lower limbs, keep your steps moderate; and land your feet rhythmically.

5. Choose where to walk

Many people are used to walking or running along the roadside, but this may be a waste of time...

The ideal place to walk is a clean and quiet place such as a park or a stadium; the ideal road should be grass, land, or rubber road, and you should try to avoid walking on hard surfaces such as asphalt roads.

6. Warm up before walking and stretch after walking

Warming up before walking can open the body's joints, promote the flow of synovial fluid, and achieve better exercise results; stretching after walking can relieve muscle soreness.

Source: Public Health Sharing Channel