For most people, sitting is a normal part of the day. The average person will go to their eight-hour office job, take their lunch break to sit and eat in the break room, and go home to tune in to their favorite show on TV.
Many times, people’s schedules are so full that there is little time to exercise throughout the day, or maybe even at all. Scientists have coined the term “sedentary lifestyles” to define the more common lack of physical activity and movement in people of the modern day.
This lifestyle has strong correlations to harmful effects on joints and muscles, heart, and lung health, all of which will lower a person’s quality of life.
Olivier Bruyere, the head of a Research Unit in Public Heath, Epidemiology and Health Economics in Belgium, and his colleagues ran a clinical study on the effects of sedentary lifestyle in relation to bone health. For this, they worked with the International Osteoporosis Foundation.
Their study used participants of differing physical activity levels. They found people who were sedentary were linked to having lower bone material densities and were pre-frail, showing lower rates of physical function, cognition, and energy at observably younger ages than ever before.
“It is always better to sit less and move more to reduce heart disease risk,” said Massachusetts researcher and Electrophysiologist Shaan Khurshid in a Mass General Brigham (MGB) study.
He went on to explain that the risks of developing problems with heart functionality can be heavily reduced when people have smaller intervals of no movement.
Sedentary lifestyles have been linked to all the four major types of heart disease and up to a 60% increase in the likelihood of heart failure and cardiovascular death in people who were sedentary for 10 or more hours, according to the MGB study.
A similar study was conducted by a research team from the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Ezimamaka Ajufo and his team found that even in people meeting the recommended moderate to vigorous physical activity minimum, they were still having effects from sedentary behaviors when sitting for over ten hours at a time.
After reallocating their physical activity and spreading it throughout their day, all cases showed improved heart function and lower risk of cardiovascular disease.
These findings were confirmed by Yiwen Wang and her colleagues, from Rice University in a study of the effects of sedentary lifestyles on the lungs.
Aimed to “quantify the amount of physical activity required to reduce the negative associations of various sedentary behaviors and pulmonary function,” their study took the approach of people who were sedentary for differing intervals of time.
The participants’ sedentary times ranged from 0-4 hours, up to 12 or more hours at a time. They were able to find participants within the first 0–4-hour time slot had better lung activity than people who were in the 8 hours or more groups, even when they had structured physical activity later in the day.
This lifestyle is also linked to compressions in the ribcage and diaphragm and reduced respiratory muscle efficiency.
“When we breathe, our diaphragm actually moves down and away from the thoracic cage allowing the lungs to fill up completely,” said DSC Program Director of the Respiratory Care Program and Cardiopulmonary Science Program, Melanie McDonough.
“Sitting does compress both the thoracic cavity and the abdominal cavity limiting the overall movement of this important muscle group,” McDonough said. “It is not harmful for the healthy person.”
Maintaining lung health will also improve the health of the heart, making it stronger and allowing for better blood flow to the muscles, therefore maintaining muscle health as well.
While sitting and lying down cannot be completely removed from daily life, there are easy ways to reverse the effects that it has on the body.
“As we age, all organs and tissues of our body deteriorate,” McDonough said. “That process can’t be stopped but it can certainly be slowed down by exercise, good nutrition, and basic care.”
Wang’s and Khurshid’s studies showed that something as simple as taking a walk during lunch break or climbing up and downs stairs between classes can monumentally improve the heart and lung health.
In extreme cases, physical therapy can offer a way to reduce or often reverse the effects of a sedentary lifestyle. Daily stretches can also limit the effects.
During the MGB study, Cardiologist Patrick Ellinor said, “Exercise is critical, but avoiding excessive sitting appears separately important.”