Sunday, February 22, 2015

Start Moving! Sitting Can Reduce Your Life Expectancy

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If you’re sitting at a desk reading this on a computer screen, take note: reducing sedentary behaviors like sitting and watching TV may have the potential to increase your life expectancy, even if you get regular exercise.

According to a study published in the online journal BMJ Open if you sit for more than three hours a day, your life expectancy is lowered by about two years. Throwing in a few hours of watching TV can add another 1.4 years.

That’s enough to make someone stand up and take note! And similar research backs up these findings.

A recent study by Australia’s Sax Institute says even with exercise, sitting down for several hours a day could bring you to an early grave.

Another study reported tracked 123,000 Americans and found the death rate for those who spent six or more hours a day sitting was 20% higher than for men who sat for three hours or less. For women, the difference was 40%.

So what can you do to get moving? For office workers who have desk jobs, it’s particularly difficult to find time to get up and walk around during the day.

Experts suggest standing up as much as you can, like when you’re talking on the phone. Don’t ‘ping’ your co-workers; get up and go over and talk to them. It might even improve communication too.

Companies can help out by allowing time for short walks, or bringing in tools like standup desks, or the treadmill desk we recently tried out.

You can use fitness gadgets like the FitBit Ultra, MotoActv, and the Nike+ Fuel Band, to name a few. They’ll all help keep track of your steps and let you know when its time to get up and start moving.

Would you use a treadmill desk in your office? How do you try to take extra steps in your day? Let us know in the comments.

LifeSpan Treadmill Desk DT-5

Front View

You can fit just about everything you need on the DT-5’s expansive and solid desk area.

Side View

Here’s the LifeSpan’s official product shot. You’ll need a good 7 feet of space for this baby.

Control Panel

These are all the controls you need, plus the emergency stop clip familiar to any treadmill user. Hitting start, even after pausing the treadmill, will return you to a snail’s pace — 0.5 mph.

Wrist Guard

In many ways, working at the treadmill desk is more comfortable than working on a regular desk.

Undercarriage

As with any treadmill, you can get mesmerized watching the diagonal strip come around.

Adjust Size

Changing the height of the treadmill desk is a pain. LifeSpan recommends most people set it at about 8 or 9.

First to Try

Intrepid intern Sonia Paul is the first to take the LifeSpan for a spin.

Getting Things Done

My first treadmill desk session. Even though the height was set too low, I was sold.

Treadmill for Tall People

Reporter Sam Laird discovers the desk’s main shortcoming: the height setting needs to be radically altered for users over 6 feet — and then back again for us shorter folk.

Treadmill for Two

As Emily Price and I found, it is entirely possible for two people to walk on the treadmill desk at once. Just don’t try this at home (or the office).