Are You Hardly Moving Most Days?
We hear frequently about how important proper exercise is in the 21st Century when our lives are almost devoid of any meaningful activity on a day to day basis.
Our modern day lifestyles have led to longer and longer bouts of sitting.
We sit at work for long periods in front of a computer, then sit at home watching television, surfing the internet or gaming.
The average hours of sitting are increasing and waistlines are expanding at a similar rate.
Eighty five percent of the world's work force works seated and our body composition (muscle/fat ratio) becomes out of balance with the sedentary nature of this.
Studies have shown that sitting for extended periods of time shuts down metabolic processes and increases the storage of body fat from the food we eat.
Fat burning is shut off within hours of not standing and moving around when enzymes in blood vessels in muscles switch off without the stimulation of activity.
Unless we make the time to put back the physical movement that our bodies must have to stay healthy it is likely that we will suffer the consequences at some point in our lives.
A no exercise lifestyle kills your metabolism (your body's engine) for starters.
After we reach our mid 20's we start to lose muscle tissue at the rate of one half pound per year unless we do nothing to stop it.
For every pound we lose it lowers our metabolic rate (the rate we burn fuel) so it is highly likely we will become overweight without our motor burning up lots of fuel.
When we become overweight we are exposed to greater risk from 'lifestyle' disease such as the 'big three' heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
It is becoming such a serious health threat that researches have found the we have become so inactive during the day stimulating disease promoting processes that even an hour of exercise each day is not sufficient to reverse the effect.
New research shows that it is a misconception that actively exercising a couple of times each week is what we need to do to make a healthy difference in an otherwise sedentary lifestyle.
It is what people do in the other fifteen and a half hours of their waking day that is just as important, or more so, than the time they spend actively exercising.
The solution that is recommended is that you should stand and move about frequently while doing your daily chores and activities to maintain optimal metabolism throughout your waking period.
Given the work of the muscles necessary to hold the body's weight upright, standing actually doubles the calorie burning rate.
So, stand more, move around more, sit less and flex your muscles more often even while performing simple day-to-day tasks for good health.
Try and squat down, reach up, bend, twist, lift and carry as much as you can every single day.
You still need your regular exercise program made up of mostly strength training exercise 2-3 times each week to help stop muscle loss, keep your metabolism boosted and help you keep your youthful looks and body function.
But if you are forced to sit for long hours at your work at least you can feel a little safer in the knowledge that you are doing all you can to balance this situation with your proper exercise regime.
This will go a long way to offset the sedentary nature of a dangerously low level of activity and help you achieve balance so you stay healthy.
Our modern day lifestyles have led to longer and longer bouts of sitting.
We sit at work for long periods in front of a computer, then sit at home watching television, surfing the internet or gaming.
The average hours of sitting are increasing and waistlines are expanding at a similar rate.
Eighty five percent of the world's work force works seated and our body composition (muscle/fat ratio) becomes out of balance with the sedentary nature of this.
Studies have shown that sitting for extended periods of time shuts down metabolic processes and increases the storage of body fat from the food we eat.
Fat burning is shut off within hours of not standing and moving around when enzymes in blood vessels in muscles switch off without the stimulation of activity.
Unless we make the time to put back the physical movement that our bodies must have to stay healthy it is likely that we will suffer the consequences at some point in our lives.
A no exercise lifestyle kills your metabolism (your body's engine) for starters.
After we reach our mid 20's we start to lose muscle tissue at the rate of one half pound per year unless we do nothing to stop it.
For every pound we lose it lowers our metabolic rate (the rate we burn fuel) so it is highly likely we will become overweight without our motor burning up lots of fuel.
When we become overweight we are exposed to greater risk from 'lifestyle' disease such as the 'big three' heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
It is becoming such a serious health threat that researches have found the we have become so inactive during the day stimulating disease promoting processes that even an hour of exercise each day is not sufficient to reverse the effect.
New research shows that it is a misconception that actively exercising a couple of times each week is what we need to do to make a healthy difference in an otherwise sedentary lifestyle.
It is what people do in the other fifteen and a half hours of their waking day that is just as important, or more so, than the time they spend actively exercising.
The solution that is recommended is that you should stand and move about frequently while doing your daily chores and activities to maintain optimal metabolism throughout your waking period.
Given the work of the muscles necessary to hold the body's weight upright, standing actually doubles the calorie burning rate.
So, stand more, move around more, sit less and flex your muscles more often even while performing simple day-to-day tasks for good health.
Try and squat down, reach up, bend, twist, lift and carry as much as you can every single day.
You still need your regular exercise program made up of mostly strength training exercise 2-3 times each week to help stop muscle loss, keep your metabolism boosted and help you keep your youthful looks and body function.
But if you are forced to sit for long hours at your work at least you can feel a little safer in the knowledge that you are doing all you can to balance this situation with your proper exercise regime.
This will go a long way to offset the sedentary nature of a dangerously low level of activity and help you achieve balance so you stay healthy.
