Most of us sit somewhere between six and 10 hours a day — and that could be a problem. And according to the research, even regular exercisers aren’t off the hook. In this episode, Rally looks at what prolonged sitting actually does to your body — and shares a stupidly simple strategy that takes less time than a TV show’s commercial break. Don’t sit this episode out!
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
RALLY:
Hey hey, Beautiful People — welcome back, to the Silver Beast Podcast. I’m Rally Preston, still 70 years old – but just for a few more weeks, then it’s all over. Seventy-one, yep.
Okay. Quick question before we do our flex for today.
Are you sitting down right now?
Yeah. Me too. Just sitting here, yapping away.
And did you know sitting down might actually be a problem? Not like right now, this second. I’m talking about when you do too much of it for too long.
Now look, I know Silver Beasties are no couch potatoes. You all put the “active” in “active adults.” I know that.
But the thing with sitting, well here it is: if you spend long stretches of time just sitting around – well, that may come back around and bite you on the butt, and other places – well, you’ll see.
I’ve got some research on this. Yeah, they study absolutely everything these days.
So alright, get comfy and let’s get into this.
Remember when you were a kid? Yeah, nostalgia alert here. Back then, there wasn’t a whole lot keeping you in a chair for long, right? I mean, three TV channels you had to get up and change – no remote controls. And your music playlist in the 60s – well that was a stack of 45 RPMs you had to get up and keep changing. No video games. No phones in your pocket. Point is, as youngsters we spent a lot of time moving around, right? Going outside, roller skating, riding bikes, skateboarding, whatever. Not many reasons to plop down on the couch for hours, right?
Well look at us now. Just look at where technology has taken us. We’ve got a screen in every room, a remote control for every screen, and a recliner that wraps around you and you just do not want to move.
So welcome to the 21st century. And that’s not great news for our bodies. Our bodies still have the genetic blueprint of Stone Age hunters and gatherers. We’re the Flintstones in a George and Jane Jetson world now. So that’s kind of a problem.
Here, look at this research. Studies suggest most adults sit around six hours a day. Ok, six hours, it could be worse, right?
Well, there’s other studies that have actually measured people’s movement with a device. This is not just asking folks how long you parked your butt in a chair today. So these high-tech studies came back with another number. And that number is way closer to 10 hours of sitting per day, on average. Ten hours.
And when you think about it, yeah, that doesn’t sound too far off.
We wake up, sit down for breakfast. Sit in the car. Sit for the news. Sit at the computer. Sit for dinner. Sit for your TV shows. Sit and scroll and scroll. Then you go to bed. I can see that being 10 hours easily – at least. Just personally, for me, that does seem about right.
Yep, we sit a lot. And our bodies aren’t really designed for that much sitting.
So this is interesting…let me give you the simple version of what’s happening inside you when you park it for too long.
First off, your metabolism — and that’s basically your body’s engine — slows way down.
It’s kind of like that auto-start-stop feature on the newer cars…you know the one that kills the engine when you come to a stop. Had a car once like that once and I had to shut off that handy feature – too much anxiety. Will it start again?
Anyway, when your body sits too long, sits in idle too long, fat starts accumulating in your bloodstream instead of getting burned off. Over time, that starts messing with your blood sugar.
And your muscles – and this is a big one for us older adults — your muscles actually shrink and weaken when you’re not using them. Now I think we all know that.
And here’s another thing: blood starts pooling in your lower legs while you’re sitting. And I swear, that’s where the spider veins come from in my legs. Too much sitting. But there’s worse things than those ugly things. The research says years of too much sitting can lead to a higher risk of diabetes, heart disease, and cognitive decline.
So that’s – that’s kind of a wake-up call for me right there. Gotta get my lazy butt up way more often.
But you know, I’ve always told myself, well I’m covered, right? I bet I’m a lot like you — I exercise. I get my walks in, my workout routines – well, maybe “routines” is too strong of a word there – but I do exercise. So that should balance out all the sitting, right?
Well, let’s see what the research says. There’s this major study in a cardiology journal that found even people who got in the recommended weekly exercise guidelines — well they still had elevated health risks if they were sitting for more than six hours a day.
So of course, exercise helps. Any and all of it. But it doesn’t really cancel out the hours and hours of sitting.
Now before you put your La-Z-boy recliner up for sale on eBay…there’s some good news here.
And it’s not what you think. The most obvious, right? Ok, I’ll just stand up more. That should do it, right? Uh no, not good enough.
They say standing in place for long stretches? Not actually that much better than sitting. There’s issues with that too — like circulation problems and muscle fatigue.
So, it turns out, what actually matters is getting up and moving.
And it doesn’t have to be intense exercise. Just some kind movement to break up the sitting.
In fact, the solve to this is pretty easy. Just every 20 to 30 minutes, get up and move around for two minutes. That’s it.
Walk around the kitchen. March in place. Do a few light stretches. Walk a few laps between your back door and front door. I don’t know. Go check on your garden. Whatever, just move every half hour or so for two minutes.
And for that minimal effort, those short little movement bursts, here’s what happens: your metabolism gets going and you’re regulating your blood sugar. So over time, those little moves can actually reduce your risk for serious health problems.
Two minutes. Every thirty minutes.
That’s doable right? Less time than most commercial breaks on the nightly news, right?
Look, we’ve made it this far in life, right? So I don’t think it will kill us to be a little less stationary a couple of times every hour. Not a big deal. Just interrupting the sitting is all you’re doing. And I’m really gonna work on this myself, and I hope you do too.
So to that end, here are some helpful action steps to get your butt in gear a little more often…
So first, set a digital reminder. So I’m going to do this; I’m going to set a timer on my smartphone. Every 30 minutes. This will be annoying as all get-outs, but I need to do it, at least to get a habit going, you know? I’ll put mine on vibrate – won’t bother anybody. So just gonna get up and walk around for a couple of minutes. You can walk, stretch, march – whatever feels good to you. As long as you’re moving and not sitting for so long.
Second idea here is: Figure out when you sit the most. Okay, so for me, this is definitely the evening. Lots of sofa time there. And it might be different for you. Your morning coffee might be three hours long, I don’t know. Anyway, point is to target those times you sit the longest, and make a conscious effort to, at the very least, break those up more often. Get up during the commercial breaks, or if you’re talking on your phone, walk around with it. Just easy stuff like that.
Third suggestion here and this is: Give yourself some grace. Look, you and I both know we’re not going to nail this one all the time. Every 30 minutes like clockwork, yeah, probably not happening. Let’s be real. But even if you interrupt your sitting even three or four times a day, you’re ahead, right? Could you do better? Of course…tomorrow we try harder. But anytime you’re not sitting, and moving instead, that’s a victory. So take the small wins every day.
Alright, Silver Beasties…it’s time for me to stand up and move around a bit…let the dog out… and hey, that’s another good one for you!
Anyway – sit less, move more. Yeah, I know we’re older. It’s more of a chore now, isn’t it? I know, believe me. But just do it. Don’t let the La-Z-Boy win this one.
Hey thank you so much for spending some time with me today, Silver Beasties. You are the best. And I’ll see you next time, on the Silver Beast Podcast. Take care!