Transform Your Body
There is a new realm of scientific study focusing on how inactivity such as prolonged sitting is affecting health and more specifically the human metabolism.
A Mayo Clinic study shows you can burn an additional 340 calories a day if you spend just two hours of your work day standing instead of sitting. If you were to maintain your current lifestyle, this could equate to a one pound weight loss in ten working days.
In fact, recent research points to too much sitting as a major factor in the obesity crisis. According to scientists, when we sit the enzymes that are responsible for burning fat just shut down. This can lead to retention of fat, lower HDL (good cholesterol), and the overall reduction in the metabolic rate. (25)
A study out of Australia further supports these claims. It found those who took more breaks from sitting had lower waist circumferences, lower body mass indexes and lower levels of triglycerides and glucose in blood, regardless of how much moderate to vigorous exercise they did or did not do. (29)
Results from a landmark study focusing on more than 73,000 women showed the risk of dying from heart disease to be nearly three times higher among people who sit the most compared to those who sit the least. (30)
Dr. Levine from the Mayo Clinic has spent more than twenty years studying human movement, obesity, and metabolism. Specifically, he points to the“electronic age as increasingly leeching nonexercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) from our existence to the tune of up to 1,500 to 2,000 calories a day.”
What exactly is NEAT? It is the constant daily activity that our body gets by performing simple everyday tasks such as getting ready for work and doing laundry. NEAT is an essential part of our burning metabolism that is responsible along with exercise for 30 percent of our daily calorie burn. When you are sitting for the majority of your day it can be hard to burn the minimum number of calories required just to maintain weight.
Integrate more standing into your working day as a way to get more NEAT. Standing and light NEAT activity allow you to charge your enzymes and raise metabolism in a way vigorous exercise cannot. “By getting up out of your chair throughout the day, you use a tremendous amount of energy over time. You engage postural muscles that “switch on” genes that are essential for good health.” (30)
