Why Sitting Down is the New Smoking?

With the advancement in technology, don’t we all find ourselves sitting for hours staring at our screens? From kids to adults, technology has a strong grip on our lifestyle. You might get a lot of things done by sitting at your desk for hours, but you may also be increasing the risk of several life-threatening diseases like cardiovascular disease (CVD).

The Chair Effect

According to CNN, sitting for too long can kill you despite exercising. The report from Annals of Internal Medicine informs that exercise also fails to keep you healthy if you spend the majority of your time sitting for excessively long periods, making it a significant factor for early death.

Nearly 4% of all deaths occur because people all over the world spend more than three hours a day just sitting.

Trends like Netflix, online video games, and social media usage is not only making adults glued to their chair but also making teenagers and kids spend the majority of their time as well. The Cao’s Analysis reports that the accelerated use of a computer increases the sitting time by more than two hours each day. In 2003, 29 percent of adults spent at least one hour a day on computers outside of work or school, this increased to half in 2016. Increasing computer usage, as a whole, is likely to spur our tendency to spend more time seated, and Cao and his co-authors make that point very clearly.

The amount of time adults watch TV has remained relatively high, with 65 percent of adults watching at least two hours of TV daily. Cao's research indicates that sedentary behavior has remained stable since 2001, so any additional increase can be attributed to computer use.

Why Sitting Down for Hours is Bad for Your Heart Health?

Scientifically speaking, sitting is the last thing you want to do when it comes to improving your heart health. Sitting or lying down reduces stress on the cardiovascular system, relaxing your heart and blood vessels. While standing up makes the heart and circulatory system work harder, simply to maintain normal blood pressure.

A reduction in a cardiovascular activity that is caused by prolonged sitting may cause relative cardiac deconditioning. In contrast, spending more time standing up leads to improved cardiovascular and muscular tone.

Sit Less, Move More for Your Heart Health

1. Take a walking break every 30 minutes

For every 30 consecutive minutes of sitting down, try to stand up and move for at least five minutes at a brisk pace to reduce the CVD risk. You can also set reminders through the use of apps that inform the user to get up and take a walk at set frequencies.

2. Do the ‘Walk Talk’

When meeting friends or clients, don’t find restaurants that will prompt you to sit. You don’t always need a reason to stay tied to your chair. Instead, you can have a conversation while taking a walk or take phone calls while walking around your place. Harvard Business says that walking while talking projects more energy and enthusiasm than sitting down, resulting in creating effective business calls and better relationships.

3. Water Works Magic

Apart from making your body move, try to stay hydrated by drinking water as much as possible. Drinking eight glasses or more a day regularly helps with reducing the risk of heart failure.

4. Take an ECG, Anytime, Anywhere

Even after doing all these changes, it’s crucial to continuously monitor the state of your heart. Monitoring your heart health is now a matter of just 30 seconds. With the use of KardiaMobile 6L, the world’s first and only US FDA cleared 6 lead ecg monitoring system, you can record a medical-grade ECG in mere 30 seconds. You can use KardiaMobile to monitor your heart rhythm and detect possible arrhythmias. It also helps you to share your ECG reports with your doctor instantly, giving you peace of mind.