Too Much Sitting Tied to Heart Disease and Muscle Loss, Studies Find
Staying still too long puts your heart at risk and weakens your body, new findings from Cornell University and the American Heart Association reveal.
Staying still too long puts your heart at risk and weakens your body, new findings from Cornell University and the American Heart Association reveal. The dangers match those linked to smoking cigarettes.
A quick fix exists. You can do a 30-minute pattern that cuts these risks. "Sit for 20 minutes, stand for eight minutes, and move around for two minutes to get the circulation going," said Marissa Pentico to Duke Today.
Those who work at desks face the biggest threat. Taylor Pennigar, who works as a nurse at Duke, tracks her steps with care. "I have to be intentional about getting up and walking 500 steps at a time," Pennigar said. When muscles stay idle too long, they start to fail. Medical staff call this "gluteal amnesia" - a condition that brings back pain and stiff hips from lack of use. The harm goes beyond muscle issues. Screen time leads to stiff necks. Phone use makes fingers hurt. Poor posture and lack of breaks cause these pains to build up day after day.
The fix starts with good habits.
- Put your feet flat down
- Keep your knees below hip level
- Bend your arms at 90 degrees
Your couch time counts too. Car rides and TV watching add to the problem, the study said. Sitting still for hours slows down your body and puts stress on your heart.
While standing desks might help, movement matters most. Quick walks and stretches twice per hour keep your blood moving and your muscles active. Research continues as experts dig deeper into this issue. They're measuring how sitting compares to other health threats, searching for the sweet spot between rest and motion in modern work life.
