Top 3 Negative After-Effects of Leading a Sedentary Lifestyle
An average person spends their day commuting, working, shopping, and relaxing back home. It is surprising to figure out that the sitting hours of a person on one day is something around 12 hours. That also equates to almost half a day sitting. Well, this might or might not shock you, considering what comes next.
Sitting at a place is not about wasting time. After all, you are doing something when sitting, but does it count when talking about the human body? Well, definitely not. In fact, such a lifestyle is considered to be a sedentary lifestyle.
A sedentary way of leading a life can be costly as it brings too many health issues. These can be countered, however, just by moving from time to time. Regardless, what you are about to read in this article is the top five negative after-effects of such a lifestyle.
1. You Burn Negligible Calories in a Day
Low-energy activities like sitting or lying down do not require any significant amount of energy. Therefore, they are extremely bad at burning down calories. The numbers are pretty negligible because by sitting or lying down, a person is also putting a limitation on the calories their body can burn via NEAT.
NEAT, or Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis, is a low-level energy-burning process. To lose calories, the body does not always need to hit the gym or do activities like swimming or dancing. Even just by standing and walking, calories can be reduced.
But, when you lie down or sit, that does not count.
2. More the Sitting Time, More Weight Gained
This should not seem like big news – the more you spend sitting in a day, the more weight you gain. That’s because sitting or lying down burns negligible calories. So, sitting around a place for more extended hours is enough to make a person gain weight. In even worse scenarios, this can lead to obesity.
In simpler words, the more sedentary an individual’s lifestyle is, the greater the chances of gaining fat and becoming obese. Surveys have found that most obese people sit more than any regular person for an additional two hours. It means they are out of significant movement for 14 hours every day.
3. Welcomes Chronic Diseases Onboard
A sedentary way of living can be the harbinger of more than 30 chronic diseases. The worst ones on the list are definitely type-2 Diabetes and heart diseases. Especially those who do not spend a considerable amount of time walking a minimum of 1500 steps daily and instead spend it sitting or lying down are more prone to welcoming chronic diseases onboard.
The reason behind this is simple. One needs to ensure that the calorie intake is countered by some sort of activity to become resistant to the disease. The more inactive the person is, the greater their chances of falling prey to such diseases.
Final Thoughts
Incorporating some movement in a day will battle against the long list of hazards a sedentary lifestyle brings. However, one needs to understand that 1-2 hours of gym, yoga or walking might not completely erase the adverse effects of sitting or lying down for 11-12 hours daily. Well, all you need to do is cut inactivity from your life to contribute to a healthy lifestyle. Besides that, ensure that the body gets at least 1-3 hours of strenuous activity daily.