The study was published in the journal Circulation: Heart Failure. Researchers discovered that men who sat for five hours a day at minimum (outside of work), and didn’t exercise regularly were twice as likely to experience heart failure than men who were physically active and sat for less than two hours a day.

Based on statistics from the American Heart Association, 1 in 5 Americans ages 40 or older will develop heart failure at some point during their lifetime. Heart failure occurs when the heart cannot support proper blood flow.

The researchers studied health records of more than 82,000 male participants ages 45 to 69 over 10 years. The subjects recorded the amount of prolonged sitting they experienced outside of work as well as their physical activity level. The study included men of all shapes, sizes and races.

After the end of the study, researches came to the conclusion that men who were not physically active were 52 percent more likely to develop heart failure than their more active counterparts.

“The results of this large study of a racially and ethnically diverse population reinforce the importance of a physically active, and importantly, a non-sedentary lifestyle for reducing the risk of heart failure,” Deborah Rohm Young, the study’s head and researcher at the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation, said. Take it from the lead researcher herself: A non-sedentary lifestyle is essential to reduce the risk of heart failure and poor heart health.

James Levine of the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix gives even more insight to the detriments prolonged sitting has on health. “If you’ve been sitting for an hour, you’ve been sitting too long,” he said. “My gut feeling is you should be up for 10 minutes of every hour.” Although he wasn’t directly involved with this particular study, Levine has made great strides in revealing the harmful effects of sitting.

Of course this isn’t the first study to shed light on the negative health effects of prolonged sitting. If you follow the Xdesk blog, we posted a study from Cornell University that revealed sedentary behavior (as defined as sitting for more than 11 hours a day in this scenario) is directly related to a 12 percent increase in premature mortality in women. To learn more about the health study, click here.

This study was originally reported in the International Business Times. To see the full article, click here.

The post Prolonged Sitting Increases Heart Failure in Men appeared first on Xdesk Blog.

Besides poor health, sitting also causes cankles! When you sit, blood is unable to effectively pump from the legs back to the heart, creating high pressure in the veins in the lower legs and feet. This pressure may leak into tissues and cause inflammation. Extended sitting can cause the problem to escalate, with hardened skin, leg ulcers and brown stains on the lower extremities. What’s worse, the decreased circulation in the legs can raise the risk of blood clots.

Raised blood sugar is another negative health effects of sitting too long. Insulin resistance is a step before type 2 diabetes. Insulin helps regulate glucose (sugar) in the bloodstream, and the muscles in turn store the sugar. When the muscles aren’t moving, they become less skilful at absorbing glucose from the bloodstream and actually become insulin-resistant.

This resistance can happen after just one day of prolonged sitting, according to a study from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. But making small, consistent movements like sitting and standing throughout the day can help lessen the risk.

You may not be aware, but immobility has the potential to cause constipation—yikes! As you sit, the body has fewer contractions that push along the contents of the gut, which causes the bowel to become dry. Low impact exercise is a sure cure for lowering this risk, like taking the stairs or walking around the block during lunch.

A sedentary lifestyle also causes heartburn. Not moving after lunch causes the stomach to empty slower and produce more acid to aid in digestion. The acidity leads to a burning sensation in your chest and mouth, so don’t forget to stand and move after a meal.

Migraines and decreased cognitive function are other negative effects of prolonged sitting. Hunching at your desk causes the neck to strain backwards as you stare at the computer screen. This in turn affects the nerves in the neck, which can result in a severe headache. Moving muscles encourage good blood flow throughout the body and to the brain. So if you’re moving regularly, you’re getting enough blood and oxygen to the brain, to boost overall brain function.

This last fact is surprising, but a sedentary lifestyle causes joint and muscle pain. Prolonged sitting leads to obesity and a large body mass creates pressure on the joints, and weak muscles from lack of use. Some studies claim that muscle weakness leads to osteoarthritis in the knees, since the knee wasn’t meant to be bent in a sitting angle all day.

See the full article, here.

The post The Daily Mail’s Negative Health Effects of Sitting appeared first on Xdesk Blog.

By now you are well aware of the problems with sitting—it is bad for your weight, energy, and overall health. And if you haven’t made the switch to a Xdesk height adjustable desk by now, well, maybe this will do the trick.

The video above is all about the detriments of sitting for too long and the benefits of using different aspects of an ergonomic workstation—a height adjustable desk, a supportive chair and monitor arms. These folks know ergonomics. Herman Miller has been making ergonomic chairs and furniture for over 75 years. Just like Xdesk, they are unique in their looks, they are ergonomically designed, and they use quality materials. As a matter of fact, a good ergonomic chair like a Herman Miller might make a great coupling for your height adjustable desk—for when you do want to sit down.

Anyway, check out the video. If this doesn’t get you to make the switch to a height adjustable desk, I don’t know what will… (Except maybe our next post. You won’t want to miss it!)

What kind of chair do you use with your height adjustable desk?

The post The Problem with Sitting: A Video appeared first on Xdesk Blog.