A sedentary lifestyle is the shortest path to aging

How many hours a day do you spend sitting? According to research results, on average, a modern person sits 7.7 hours a day, while many manage not to break away from a chair / sofa / armchair for as much as 15 hours! Experts are concerned about this trend, because the consequences of physical inactivity are simply terrifying: high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, depression and a whole host of other diseases. However, this is not all. Recent studies show that a sedentary lifestyle actually accelerates the aging of the body, and at the cellular level. estet-portal.com will tell you more about this problem in this article.

Sedentary lifestyle – the right way to premature aging

Diabetes, obesity, heart disease, cancer and premature death – far from a complete list of problems associated with hypodynamia. In people who lead a sedentary lifestyle, aging accelerates at the cellular level. This is the conclusion reached by researchers from the Medical School of the University of California at San Diego.

The study involved 1 500 women aged 64 to 95 who were asked about their level of physical activity and the amount of time spent daily in a sitting position. After that, the results of the survey were compared with the length of telomere volunteers.

Women who spent more than 10 hours a day sitting and less than 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity were found to have significantly shorter telomeres than their more active peers.

Telomers – terminal sections of DNA that visually resemble shoelaces and protect genetic information from damage. After each cell division, telomeres shorten, so their length is used to determine biological aging. Over time, telomeres become so short that the cell can no longer divide and dies. For this reason, telomeres are sometimes also compared to the burning fuse of a bomb.

Biologically speaking, sedentary people are on average 8 years older than their physically active peers.

Women who sat for 10 or more hours a day experienced a reduction in telomere length equivalent to eight years of aging. In other words, a sedentary lifestyle accelerates the aging process by about 8 years. Also, short telomeres are associated with such chronic diseases:

• cancer;
• heart disease;
• diabetes.

The lead author of the study, Aladdin Shadyan, said: "The results of our study suggest that cells age faster when people are sedentary."

It is also interesting that in women who exercised at least 30 minutes a day, despite prolonged sitting, telomere length did not decrease. Therefore, the authors of the study concluded that the exercises – a natural anti-age remedy that allows you to neutralize the effects of a sedentary lifestyle.

Sedentary lifestyle and smoking: which is worse for health?

Dr. Kelly Starrett, in her book Deskbound: Standing Up to a Sitting World, cited the results of a study by Dr. James Levine that every hour spent sitting shortens life by 2 hours.  

At the same time, each cigarette you smoke shortens your life by 11 minutes. Therefore, many experts argue that a sedentary lifestyle is worse for health than smoking.

Kelly Starrett also talked about a study in her book that found that office workers who smoked were healthier than their non-smoker counterparts by getting up every 30 minutes and making their way to the smoking room. Ideally, of course, estet-portal.com recommends warming up every half an hour without resorting to bad habits.

Another study found that too much sitting increases the risk of developing:

• lung cancer by 54%;
• uterine cancer by 66%;
• colon cancer by 30%.

How much does a sedentary lifestyle hurt you: Sit and stand test? (H3)

There is one very simple test that allows you to determine how much a sedentary lifestyle has harmed your body. This test was invented by Brazilian scientists to determine Lack of movement is known to lead to muscle atrophy, making it increasingly difficult to perform various movements.

The proposed test, tentatively titled "Sit and Stand" (sitting-rising test, SRT) is that you need:

• from a standing position, slowly sit down on the floor, lowering yourself to your crossed legs;
• without resting your hands on the floor, stand up (see the picture below).

If you managed to do the above without falling, using your hands, knees, give yourself 10 points and continue to keep your body in great shape!

Subtract 1 point if you had to when lowering or lifting (see picture below):

• lean on 1 palm;
• lean on 1 knee;
• lean on 1 forearm;
• lean one hand on the knee;
• lean on the outer surface of 1 leg.

According to Brazilian scientists, the fewer points you score, the less chance you have for a long life. However, do not rush to get upset – It's never too late to make physical activity an integral part of life!

How to minimize the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle: simple ways

Many people, realizing all the sad consequences of a sedentary lifestyle, are sure that it is impossible to change it: office work, lack of time for the gym, self-doubt – reasons that very often prevent us from changing our lives for the better.

Try to spend every free minute actively: get up, walk, squat, stretch, walk in the fresh air.

However, incorporating physical activity into your daily schedule is much easier than you think. To do this, it is not at all necessary to visit the gym every day and hire a personal trainer. Start with gradual changes:

• set an alarm and get up from your chair every half an hour to stretch, walk, drink water;
• Try to increase the amount of time you walk to work (for example, get off the bus at a stop earlier than usual);
• walk up and down the stairs (you can start with a couple of floors, gradually increasing the number of steps);
• go out every night with friends/lover/music in headphones;
• get a dog so you have an incentive to go for walks several times a day;
• start working in the garden or flower bed;
• play active games with friends and/or kids (badminton, basketball, tennis, whatever);
• start jumping rope;
• stretch;
• try simple exercises;
• master the bar (cheap, fast, effective).

See also: Nutrition against aging: 11 products for youthful skin and the body as a whole

Turning a sedentary lifestyle into a more active one is easy. Main – want and spend any free minute as actively as possible. Replace the evening seraglio or the rest of the break with a walk, dedicate 10 minutes of time to simple stretching exercises in the morning – lots of possibilities. Gradually, you will get used to physical activity and want to move even more!