Sitting (is the New Smoking)
As if asking you to monitor your other vices like smoking and sex isn’t enough, now we’re asking you to stop relaxing! Surprisingly, it isn’t so much the time spent logged in front of the TV (who has cable anymore?) as it is the time spent sitting at your desk.
Dr. James Levine, director of the Mayo Clinic-Arizona State University Obesity Solutions Initiative, coined the term “sitting is the new smoking” and he relates the two activities because they both cause irreversible damage that cannot be fixed by changing your diet or exercise.
When you sit for long lengths of time and do things like cross your legs or slump over after answering your 100th email of the day, you compress the veins in your legs. This can lead to a blood clot. Stand up and walk around at least once an hour, preferably every 20 to 25 minutes. There is an added benefit to walking around too, as women who spent four hours or less sitting while at their jobs (as opposed to standing or walking around) have almost 100 percent less likelihood of depression.
Traveling for Long Stretches otherwise Known as Your Daily Commute
If you are one of the many people who don’t walk or bike to work, your daily commute could also be adding to your blood clot risk. Pile a 30-minute drive on top of plopping down at your desk as soon as you hit work, plus chilling on the couch after hours, and you have a recipe for a health disaster.
If you live in the ‘burbs and work in the city (or vice versa) and honestly cannot add some exercise to your work commute, then try to get as much NEAT into your schedule as possible. NEAT stands for non-exercise activity thermogenesis. Essentially, this means get as much movement as you can in the day, and it doesn’t have to be heart-pounding cardio.
Almost any physical activity qualifies as NEAT. So you can pace around your cubicle while on the phone, clean the house, or walk the dog. The key is to keep some muscles moving so that the blood flows, and there is no possibility for blood to pool and form a clot.