You’d be healthier being a marathon runner that smoked than you would be living a sedentary lifestyle. At least that’s what a report from the University of Hong Kong notes. In a recent research study, they looked at the levels of physical activity people who recently died had and made a correlation with their physical activity while alive.
The results were amazing.
Being a Couch Potato and Smoking
While smoking accounted for some of the deaths in people 35 or older, 20 percent of them came from a sedentary lifestyle. In fact, being a couch potato increased the risk of cancer by 28 percent in women and 45 percent in men. Respiratory ailments jumped 92 percent if men were inactive and 75 percent in sedentary women. Heart disease deaths were 52 percent higher in men and 28 percent higher in women if they didn’t participate in physical activity.
Most doctors and medical professionals believe an active lifestyle encourages the body to build new cells faster and fights off disease better when you’re active. When cholesterol levels, blood pressure levels or stress levels increase, many physicians recommend a regimen of physical activity because often these conditions are encouraged by a sedentary lifestyle.
Activity and Stress
When you’re active, you’re actually moving the blood around through the body and bringing more oxygen to the different cells. You’re also encouraging the lymph fluid to move. Only through physical activity does that fluid have any movement. There’s no pump for the lymphatic system. Your activity also causes the nutrients to circulate and encourages you to sweat out toxins. By far, an adequate amount of physical activity can also reduce stress, one of the causes of many diseases.
Lower Income and Aging
A sedentary lifestyle is no physical activity or irregular physical activity. People with lower levels of education and income or advancing age were those who tended to fit into this category, according to a recent study. Another study shows that for each day you live on the seat of your pants being butt-bound, your chances of developing diabetes increases by 7 percent. Other risks also climb, such as the risk for heart disease. It increases depression also, which makes you want to sit even more.
Effects on Muscles and Spinal Health
Sitting and remaining inactive weakens the muscles and may affect your posture or spinal health. One study noted that since the increased use of computers starting in the early 1990s, lower back problems have also increased three hundred percent.
All the lifestyle changes offered by modern technology have saved man from exerting the effort he used in yesteryear just to live. Because of this, even if you exercise 30 minutes a day, you may not be able to reverse all the effects of sitting at work 9 to 10 hours, but it’s worth the effort to try.
Beyond Heart disease and Diabetes
Beyond heart disease and diabetes, a sedentary lifestyle also increases your risk for obesity, which links to many diseases. It also increases the risk for atherosclerosis. Physical activity can also reduce your risk for sleep apnea, cancer, osteoporosis, COPD and Alzheimer’s disease. Besides staving off all these diseases, when you exercise you’ll also find you feel better and ready to enjoy life.
