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This time 2 years ago: 7 Rituals for Running When You’re Unmotivated
Sitting is not the new smoking. There, I said it.
No one should sit on their butt all day, but I refuse to get on board with it being as bad as smoking. (If you hadn’t heard this phrase, “sitting is the new smoking” has been going around for awhile.) I imagine black smoke filling your lungs day after day, pack after pack, scarring and killing everything good in there. The vision of sitting all day at a desk? Not even close.
Of course, there are levels of everything. Are we talking light smoker? Are we talking person who sits all day but takes a walk after work? Or are talking pack for pack compared to day after day of being sedentary? It’s all relative.
Sitting at a desk all day does not an overweight, unhealthy person make — necessarily. Sitting at a desk all day, walking to your car, sitting on couch all night, eating unhealthy, high calorie foods, repeat — this version of extreme is seriously bad news. Even so, it’s still hard for me to wrap my brain around it being as bad as smoking two packs a day.
I recently heard a doctor give a speech on healthy living. I don’t want to call her out by name but…I was excited to hear her thoughts and ideas on maintaining health. In this speech, she told us that even if we workout for an hour in the morning — if we sit all day at our desks — the benefits of the morning workout are “completely negated.”
Completely negated? False. If that’s the only time I have to get my sweat on, it’s not “completely negated” from sitting at my desk all day. Not possible! It was very misleading to tell an audience full of people that.
I looked into the whole “sitting is the new smoking” thing and appreciated one doctor’s response:
“If you’ve got populations that sit comparably, and one group smokes and one doesn’t — and we’ve had that natural experiment, we’re a very sedentary society, we all do a lot of sitting — but there are smokers and non-smokers, and smokers tend to die younger and horribly. So clearly smoking is worse than sitting.
…Smoking is clearly worse, and if you are a person doing both, I’d say focus on giving up the cigarettes and then we’ll get you out of your chair.”
His answer is far longer than that so read the whole thing. I really dislike the fear factor entangled in the message of “sitting is the new smoking.” It’s not so let’s be realistic.
All that being said…
I now have a stand-up desk at work. Yep, I stand up ALL day long. People walk by my office with inquisitive looks, always intrigued by my vertical oddity. Do you like it? You stand up all day? Do your feet get tired? Yes, I like it. Yes, I stand up all day. Yes, my feet get tired.
By the end of the day, I’m ready to crash into a chair. But all day I know I’m doing a wonderful thing for my body. I’m not putting pressure on my spine, I’m not slouching, I’m not crossing my legs into pretzel-like shapes that are very bad for making one’s hips uneven. It forces me to think about my posture, hold my core in and focus on my work instead dazing off or getting sleepy.
I did this for my back but also for my health overall. I drink lots of water and make lots of trips to the bathroom. I’m constantly copying, printing, heading to meetings and finding reasons to get up and move around. Standing up all day makes it that much easier to remain active.
I thank God I never started smoking because I know it’s so incredibly hard to quit. I have a lot of respect for those who can do it! But smoking is way worse than sitting and sitting can be fully enjoyed in healthy moderation.
In conclusion, stop smoking first off. Then, just make sure you spend some time moving, sweating and breathing hard. It makes your body healthier and your outlook on life that much better. To physical, mental and spiritual health through movement.
We may disagree that sitting is the new smoking but I’m quite sure we can all agree getting a move on every day is a good idea! (In fact, why not get a FitBit and watch the miles add up?!)
What do you think about the new phrase, “sitting is the new smoking?” Do you think it’s over-hyped? Do you have a stand up desk or consciously try to move around during the day if you have a desk job?
Core Commit Challenge Day #16
- 25 bridges (x2)
- 25 sit-ups (on a large ball if possible) x 2
- Superman (15)/Banana (15)
You are awesome!!!! I LOVE this! I really need to sit less and this is total inspiration!!
I really want to get a standing desk. I sit way too much. And my office is tiny, so going to the printer is only 4 steps away. The bathroom is only 10. Love your take on the debate, I totally agree.
I just answered some trivia questions on a sight yesterday and one of them asked if I thought sitting all day was just as harmful as smoking. I of course said "no" ( for all the same reasons you mentioned). It then told me I was WRONG! I was shocked! Just because people sit doesn't mean that they don't get any other physical activity in their day. In fact, I believe that workplaces should make those who do smoke stand at their desk and work. It will not reverse the damage they are doing to their body, but at least it will be a little something extra they are doing. Can you tell that trivia question annoyed me?
Ha ha, it would have annoyed me also! It's like…excluding every other factor!
I really have a hard time believing that workouts absolutely do nothing to negate the sitting. I do think our society does sit too much, and we should be encouraged to get up and move about, take breaks. I would love a true standing desk. I found a box and will put my keyboard on it, but it's not quite comfortable enough – starts to hurt my wrist. But I love standing and it makes time go by faster too. I don't know how, but it does.
Agreed…my desk is actually not a full out standing desk. It's actually mini-box things put on top of my desk for my keyboard, computer. They look like little stools almost!
I'm in the process of changing my desk into a standing desk and noticed that they have cushioned mats to stand on at Staples. I haven't bought one yet and they are close to $60, but it might help with the foot fatigue by the end of the day. I also have an exercise ball that I sit on during the day. It certainly makes crossing my legs more challenging and definitely helps engage the core. Just some tips that I'm sure you have already thought of!
Ooh good idea, I'm going to check that out! (the mats to stand on!) Thanks!
Yes I think it's overhyped. I think they are lumping (no pun intended)everyone into the lowest common denominator of people who eat crap and literally sit from morning till night.
I agree…a bit misleading!
I'd love a stand-up desk but it won't work with my cubicle. I do take a lot of breaks and walk around.
That's nice! It does depend on the space you already have.
Thank you so much for this post. I have been wanting to write one like it for awhile now. I feel as if our media loves to promote extreme ways of thinking. If you sit all day, your workout means nothing? That's not exactly an effective way to get people to move more, but it is an effective way to get people to throw their hands up and say "why bother working out?"
This is like the ads that tell you if you eat bananas you'll get fat, if you don't do cardio you'll gain weight, and if you don't drink green juice you are not healthy. And some bloggers even perpetuate that image. I take issue with black and white thinking and sitting is the new smoking is exactly that. Yes I agree we could all move a bit more and I certainly sit too much when I am at work all day. But I am still a very healthy human being and I'm sick of being told I'm not just because of my sitting!
Thanks for your reply, I totally agree. The all or nothing thinking has gone way too far in many instances. I still can't believe that doctor told our group that!
I have a stand up desk, too. Actually, everyone in the office has an adjustable one, but I'm one of the few who uses it in the "standing" position. I agree that it's not as bad as smoking, but it is definitely not healthy for us to sit all the time morning, noon and night.
Yes, agreed. I thin more people should use standup desks, there are so many back issues in this country!
You are SOO lucky. I want a stand up desk so bad because I get so uncomfortable sitting all day. It won't ever happen at work though because my company is too big and because of the day are desks are put together. 🙁
Well, just so you know, it is not an actual desk. Its kind of just like a box that fits on top of the desk. I always though previously you had to get an entire desk to do it but you don't. Perhaps you can modify somethign?!
I started using a stand up desk too, i also try to do some squats every so often throughout the day and take a break to walk up and down the stairs in my office. I definitely am liking the movement through the day and it has also helped to make my joints less stiff.