Is your chair killing you? Why the hours you spend at your desk could put you at risk

Today’s death rate is close to 63% lower than it was in the 1960s, but that doesn’t mean we’re healthier. Back then, only 1% of Americans had diabetes, and only 13% were obese. Today, 6% of Americans are diagnosed with diabetes, and a whopping 35% are obese. How is that possible with all the medical advances, knowledge of healthy vs. unhealthy foods and exercise plans you wonder? Easy: We’re couch potatoes – or, more accurately, we’re chair potatoes.

Even if you do exercise for, let’s say, 45 minutes a day, but you work for 60 hours a week at a desk, not only are you not more healthy (as you had thought) than a non-desk worker who doesn’t exercise at all, but you are less healthy. That’s right. Your chances of developing heart disease are far greater than somebody who doesn’t spend hours in a chair each week. In fact, new evidence suggests that the more hours you sit a day, the greater your likelihood of dying a premature death, regardless of how toned your abs are. Why is this?

Statistically speaking, we’re working out just as much as we were 30 years ago. The problem lies in how much more sitting we’re doing. A study done in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that when healthy individuals limit their number of footsteps by 85% for 2 weeks, their insulin levels drop a dramatic 17%, increasing their risk for diabetes and heart disease. And no amount of traditional exercise – running, biking, lifting – can reverse this adverse effect as long as you keep sitting at your desk.

So what can you do, if traditional exercise doesn’t work? Well, according to Peter Katmarkzyk, Ph.D at the nation’s leading obesity research center, “Regularly exercising is not the same as being active.” It’s the non-exercise activities­, like walking to your car, going up the street to get a coffee, mowing the lawn, or even standing that will do your heart – and your body – a world of good. "Humans sit too much, so you have to treat the problem specifically," says one expert. "The cure for too much sitting isn't more exercise…it’s the non-exercise activities.” To learn what he means by this, why sitting is so bad for you, and what easy steps you can take to lead a longer, healthier life-style, check out this article by Men’s Health Magazine at:http://www.menshealth.com/health/staying-active/page/1.

Check out what Dr. Ross does for his non-exercise activity!

Learn about curling here http://mentalfloss.com/article/23982/what-exactly-curling