https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamacardiology/article-abstract/2793521

There are so many important topics to try to keep up in the blogs that I haven't talked about this one for a while and it's overdue. Especially in a post-pandemic area were still many people have remained working from home part or full time, and even the small amount of physical activity involved in getting in the vehicle and commuting to a workspace has been eliminated for some folks.

The data on the harmful impact of prolonged sitting keeps mounting, and its metrics on adverse health outcomes is becoming increasingly measurable, in the same way that we can measure adverse impact of smoking in terms of daily cigarettes. This most recent study published by JAMA puts some numbers on the problem and they are sobering. For the people who pride themselves of not smoking, remember that if you consistently sit eight hours a day without some balancing physical activity outside of that, you are no better off than someone puffing a pack a day.

There are a few simple strategies that you can work on to mitigate the impact of Fort sitting.

– Whenever possible, consider having a sit stand workstation. The availability of inexpensive desktop retrofits is becoming widely available. Many employers are also honoring requests of employees to retrofit their workstation with us it's an option if not alright available. In the end, for a few hundred dollars you can probably make it happen even if your employer is not cooperating. Your health is on the line. You do not need to be standing your whole workday but try to aim for 1/3 to 1/2 of the total time

– Whenever take frequent standing and walking breaks. To keep yourselves accountable, use a fitness tracker to see what your total sitting time is. Ideally you want to be below four hours of workday.

– If you are in a situation where avoiding prolonged eight hour workday sitting is impossible, make sure to make up with it with vigorous balancing physical activity outside of that timeframe. Walking, higher intensity aerobic exercise. Prolonged sitting is especially associated with poor cardiovascular outcome, possibly because of the stress it physically puts on our arterial system.