Sitting is the New Smoking!

It's BACK TO SCHOOL time! Which means teachers and students are heading back to "THE CHAIR" to sit for hours on end. We PT's have had a saying "sitting is the new smoking"...meaning that prolonged sitting can be a terrible habit and lead to all sorts of physiological breakdown. GET UP AND MOVE! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Our spine is naturally S- curved which means it can take a lot of compressive strain and transmit load. Sitting, over time can cause the S to turn into a C causing slouching, abdominal weakness, hip flexor tightness and inflexibility. Disc pressure increases, spinal segments flatten and blood circulation to the brain decreases. So, if you start to get brain fog while sitting, get up and walk around for a few minutes! GET UP AND MOVE! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Continuous sitting weakens the muscles, deteriorates blood circulation and lowers the tone of blood vessels. Those with sedentary lifestyles have a 54% greater risk of dying from a heart attack than those who are more active. GET UP AND MOVE! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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When sitting for prolonged periods of time, the metabolism slows down and your body burns fewer calories, storing the excess as fat. At a standing job, your body burns up to 35% more calories than at a seated desk job. GET UP AND MOVE! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Just one day of sitting down leads to a reduced consumption of insulin by the cells. The pancreas releases the amount of insulin necessary to transform carbohydrates into glucose. However, the cells in the passive muscles need a much lower amount of insulin yet the pancreas continues to release at its normal speed. GET UP AND MOVE! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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So, while you are out there getting your "mask break", how about doing some jumping jacks or stretches or a walk around the block! Movement, does the body good! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀