The more you lay around, the shorter you'll be around!

In 1982, researchers at the Cooper Institute in Dallas revealed an unfortunate symptom of inactivity. Originally the researchers were interested in the exercise habits of affluent men, and were gathering data to help support the idea that exercising was good for you. What they found was that not only is physical activity good for you, inactivity is bad for. While you don’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to figure that one out, the unfortunate truth is that inactivity is worse for you than previously thought. Until recently the effects of inactivity had been largely unexplored, but in May scientists at the University of South Carolina and the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge published an article in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise touting the dangers of inactivity. Their findings showed that men who spent 23 hours a week sitting were 64% more likely to die from heart disease than men who sat less than 11 hours a week. When you add together all the hours the average American spends sitting at work, in the car, or in front of a TV, 23 hours a week isn’t that much.

Studies performed on rats have revealed the physiological mechanism behind all of this. In their studies rats and mice who were not allowed to walk around their cages or exercise actually developed cellular changes in their muscles, changes that resulted in an increased risk of diabetes and heart disease. The worst part? Getting regular exercise isn’t enough to reverse these changes. The pathways for the benefits of exercise and the ill effects of inactivity are different, and as a result you need to do more than work out on a regular basis to avoid these consequences. Fortunately there are some simple ways to avoid this nasty little problem: limit the amount of time you are being inactive. At work you can try sitting on a balance ball as opposed to a chair, or you can just get up and walk around for a little bit. If you spend a lot of time in cars, try flexing the muscles in your core and in your legs as hard as you can for 10 second intervals, repeating 5 or 6 times. If you are watching TV at home get up and grab a glass of water or something during commercial breaks, or if you are feeling extra motivated drop down and do some pushups or squats. Our muscles want to do some work, so oblige them! (and your heart will thank you later)