14 DAY TRIAL // Countless studies have shown the disastrous consequences of a sedentary lifestyle but health experts are starting to suggest that the very concept of “sedentary” should be revised and duly updated. Envisioned until now as referring to lack of physical exercise (that is, working out), it should come to be used only for lack of movement, which may sound similarly but is an entirely different matter, as a piece in That’s Fit points out.
More specifically, lack of exercise can still mean a lot of movement by the very nature of some of the daily chores. Lack of movement, on the other hand, is even worse: and it’s what happens when we’re watching TV. Not only do we not move, but we’re also literally putting ourselves in temptation’s way by spending hours on end in front of the television. The result, says the fitness-oriented e-zine citing recent studies, is that, in almost no time, we can see its devastating effects in both our health and our waistline.
“Now, recent research suggests that it’s not just watching television per se – it’s sitting in general that may be the enemy of your health. The reason? Lack of ‘whole body muscular movement,’ according to Elin E. Bak from the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences and lead author of the new study. ‘Lack of whole-body muscular movement [is] strongly associated with obesity, abnormal glucose metabolism, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease risk and cancer,’ he said. Sitting is nothing if not lack of movement. ‘It’s one of the most passive things you can do,’ wrote Olivia Judson in The New York Times blog Opinionator,” That’s Fit writes.
What’s even worse, it would seem that the effects of sitting are obvious regardless of whether we exercise or not. In other words, cases of people who sit and watch a lot of TV, exercise and are still fat – just as fat as those who don’t work out – have been known. This has prompted health experts to say that the definition of “sedentary” is in dire need of a revision because it no longer refers to not exercising. Instead, it should be used as a synonym for “muscular inactivity,” which occurs when watching television, for instance.
“This is actually good news. It means that everyday activities – like taking the stairs rather than the elevator, parking further away from the mall, walking to the store rather than driving, standing rather than sitting whenever possible – can make a difference to your health in a positive way as long as they involve muscular movement. Studies have shown that even fidgeting helps burn calories. The negatives involved in prolonged sitting go beyond the fact that you burn so few calories doing it. Elik suggests that there may be a ‘physiology of inactivity,’ meaning vegging out actually causes your body to do some things that aren’t good for you. Previous research in The Journal of Physiology has shown, for example, that prolonged sitting suppresses lipase, an enzyme involved in fat metabolism,” That’s Fit further writes.