Sedentary Mortality Rate Increases by 62% Are you an athletic or sedentary person? It sounds like a simple question, but the answer is not as obvious as you might think. Let’s say you have a busy schedule, working 60 hours a week, but you still make time for five 45-minute workouts a week. Most people would categorize you as athletic, but you’re just an “armchair potato” who loves to work out – you’re still sedentary. The amount of time you spend exercising and the amount of time you spend sitting are two completely separate things that affect your risk of heart disease later in life. No matter how many sports you play and how hard you work out, the longer you sit each day, the more likely you are to die early. Even if you develop an enviable six-pack, it won’t protect you from a chair. A study published in 2010 found that if healthy men reduced the number of steps they walked by 15 percent, after two weeks, their insulin sensitivity would drop by 17 percent, putting them at increased risk for diabetes. We’ve done a lot to live longer, but that doesn’t mean we’re healthier. In China, the annual death rate is now as much as 62 percent lower than it was in 1952! But then less than 1% of the population had diabetes and only 0.6% were obese; now 9.7% are diagnosed with diabetes, second only to India, a whopping 7.1% are obese, and another 22.8% are overweight. Sedentary has another problem If you spend too much time in the chair, the buttock muscle groups will “forget” how to start. Scientists refer to this phenomenon as “gluteal amnesia”. Basic anatomy tip: Your glutes are the largest muscle group in your body. So if they don’t function properly, you won’t be able to squat or lift heavy objects, and you won’t burn as much fat. After all, it’s muscles that burn fat, so your glutes are a fat melting pot. If you spend most of your day sitting in a chair, that melting pot is probably turned off. It doesn’t stop there, it gets worse. Weak hip muscles and tight hip flexors will cause your pelvis to tilt forward. This will put added pressure on your lumbar spine, leading to low back pain. It will also push your stomach forward and your intestines will bulge out even if you have no fat at all. Sedentary behavior changes your muscles and posture slowly, and it’s hard to notice at first. But it gets worse as you reach your 30s, 40s, and 50s, and it’s much harder to correct at that point. What should people who are constantly working at their desk do? Scientists suggest: think about the two different categories that activity represents. One represents regular exercise, and the other represents the ratio of time you spend sitting to time you spend standing. Each day, making choices about small everyday things will help you push your “sit-to-stand ratio” in a good direction. Standing to talk on the phone, walking up and down the stairs, getting water and going to the restroom often, etc., all of these things work and are important.