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Sedentary behaviour (like sitting) and physical inactivity are a LOT more harmful than most people think.
In fact, being sedentary is one of the TOP factors that reduces life expectancy and health-related quality of life (along with smoking, high alcohol consumption, and obesity).
If you’re looking to be fitter, stronger, and healthier, then sitting is NOT the way to do that.
Even if you go to the gym for 1 hour a day, 7 days a week… If you sit on your bum behind a computer, in the car, at a table, on the couch, or in your bed for the remaining 23 hours of your day then you are STILL sedentary!
People are sitting more than ever before.
🚶♀️ The Benefits of Sitting Less:
Healthline list some of the reasons that sitting too much may be bad for your health.
But, we would like to reframe that list into the BENEFITS of sitting LESS:
- Sitting less makes weight loss easier and weight gain harder.
- Sitting less decreases the likelihood that you will be overweight or obese.
- Sitting less is linked to a longer life.
- Sitting less is linked to decreased risk for disease.
- Sitting less provides benefits that exercise cannot.
Despite how simple “sitting less” seems, it’s clear that getting into the habit of sitting less can provide an ENORMOUS amount of benefit.
While exercising for an hour every day is fantastic, if you’re sitting or sleeping for the other 23 hours then you’re still sedentary!
⚠️ Don’t Trivialise This:
While sitting less may indeed be “simple”…
It’s NOT necessarily “easy” to do, at least not consistently.
Just like how everyone clearly knows that vegetables are healthier than chocolate, it’s much easier said than done to eat the right things consistently.
This is because “knowing” and “doing” are two very different things.
- Knowing makes us feel good and productive, but it doesn’t move us fowards and can even hold us back when we get paralysed from overthinking.
- Doing, on the otherhand, actually moves the needle. It moves you forwards and creates results. It has an impact.
We need both, that is true, but we only need a little bit of knowledge and then a lot of action. We learn the most from actually doing, so the less you do the less you’ll actually know (as confusing as that may seem).
You don’t get to the “next level” without first mastering the basics. At Sleekgeek we like to joke that the boring basics are actually the super next-level secrets to success.
So, we’re here to help you master these basics by breaking them down into more do-able and actionable parts.
⚔️ The Two-Parts to Sitting Less:
- Part 1: Spend less time sitting in general.
- Part 2: Sit for shorter periods of time (stand up and move around regularly).
We recommend standing up and moving around for at least 1 minute every hour during the workday (and after that too if possible).
An easy way to raise your awareness around how much you are sitting versus standing and remove your excuses is to set a simple reminder on your phone to remind you to stand up.
If once an hour feels a bit much, you could always start with setting a reminder every 3 hours and then work your way to a more frequent reminder from there (until it’s a habit and you no longer need the reminder at all).
You will, of course, want to restrict these reminders to “waking hours” between say 8am and 9pm so that it doesn’t disturb your sleep.
Remember: There’s nothing wrong with sitting. It’s a normal human posture. Just like eating, it’s perfectly OK in moderation. But sitting too long or eating too much can start to cause problems.
You can also make a game out of it by deciding that you have to stand up for at least 1 minute before you check your email at work or social media at home.
Many smartwatches and fitness trackers have built-in monitors that track how much time you spend moving versus sitting and give you prompts to stand up and move around if you’re too sedentary.
Don’t forget to post your Step Challenge journey in the Sleekgeek Health Revolution Facebook group using the hashtag #StepChallenge AND tick off your steps goal on the Challenge Tracker.
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