LifeSpan Fitness Blog

Tips on living healthy and fit

Category Archives: Weight & Health Management

Health Risks of a Sedentary Lifestyle

Spending too much time at your desk sitting (even if you do get the recommended 30 minutes a day of exercise) leads to obesity, diabetes, heart disease and even cancer. This is a bold statement, but the reality is that our bodies simply are not designed to sit for extended periods of time.

Sitting all day while we work, or more commonly called “having a sedentary lifestyle,” has only recently become a trending topic in health and fitness, but studies of the affect of sitting while working vs. standing (and moving) while working date back to the mid-twentieth century. In an article by Maria Masters (Men’s Health) she recounts a British study published in 1953 where scientists examined two groups of workers: bus drivers and trolley conductors. The bus drivers were more likely to sit down for their entire day, the trolley conductors were running up and down the stairs and aisles trolleys. As it turned out, the bus drivers were nearly twice as likely to die of heart disease as the conductors were.

Marc Hamilton, Ph.D. from the Pennington Biomedical Research Center has labeled this area of science “inactivity physiology.” He found that when the leg muscles are not used for a few hours, our levels of the enzyme lipoprotein lipase (LPL) drop off severely. This protein’s main role is to break down fat in the bloodstream to use as energy. He states simply, “humans sit too much… the cure for too much sitting isn’t more exercise. Exercise is good, of course, but the average person could never do enough to counteract the effect of hours and hours of chair time.”

Increased risks of heart disease and obesity are just a couple of the health hazards related to a sedentary lifestyle. Lower back and hip pain, poor balance and mobility are also associated with prolonged periods of sitting. The list of ailments caused by too much sitting goes on to include higher risks of diabetes, depression and even cancer. Christine Friedenreich, an epidemiologist at Alberta Health Services/Cancer Care suggests that her research has found that inactivity is linked to an additional 37,000 cases of cancer. The research that has been done in the last few years on the dangers of sitting is nothing short of alarming. Sitting has become the new smoking.

The good news is that the solution is easy and quite natural — just reduce the amount of time spent sitting. Finding additional time in a hectic work day for more exercise can seem impossible, but with the LifeSpan Treadmill Desk taking the place of an office chair, not only can you eliminate the inactivity in your workday but you will find that you will have an increase in energy as well as productivity.

Prolonged Sitting Leads to Heart Disease

You may already know that if you exercise regularly you can reduce your chance of getting diseases like high blood pressure, cardiovascular problems, low metabolism, high levels of cholesterol, diabetes and some types of cancer.  Research shows that prolonged sitting leads to greater risk of heart disease, and suggests that 30 minutes of exercise a day may not be enough to keep diseases at a healthy distance.  A study on sedentary behaviors effect in men at the University of South Carolina showed that men who spent more than 23 hours a week sitting, have 64 percent more risk to die from heart disease than the men who spent less than 11 hours a week sitting.  All men exercised routinely.

It’s time to start integrating more movement into your daily life, simply by taking short breaks and taking a walk, or walking slowly while you work using a treadmill desk.

 

Weight loss – calories in vs. calories out

Achieving a healthy body weight is a simple math equation of managing your calories in and calories out.  To successfully lose weight, you must create a calorie deficit through a combination of eating fewer calories and increasing your daily physical activity.

Slow, steady weight loss is more likely to last than dramatic weight changes. Healthy plans aim for a loss of no more than ½ pound to 1 pound per week. If you lose weight too quickly, you are more likely to lose muscle and water. You also will be more likely to regain the pounds quickly afterwards. Attempting to start your program with an extremely high calorie deficit can be dangerous to your health.  It may even cause your body to store more fat to compensate for too few calories.

To ensure you’re losing body fat eat fewer calories than you burn throughout each day, perform cardiovascular exercise and if possible engage in resistance training.  If you don’t perform resistance training and are limiting your calorie intake to less calories than you need in a day, it is possible that about 25 percent of each pound you lose will come from lean muscle.

To lose one pound of body fat you need a 3,500-calorie deficit over time (e.g., 500 fewer calories a day for seven days).

 To safely reduce your caloric intake, lower your calories per day by at least 500, but no more than 1,000.  The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends that calorie levels never drop below 1,200 calories per day for women or 1,800 calories per day for men, otherwise you risk causing an ongoing reduction in your resting metabolism, making it even more challenging to lose weight.

Loosing weight can often seem like a daunting and almost impossible goal, but if you simplify it down to a daily task of just reducing your calorie intake and increasing your calories burned it can be achieved over time.

Why Take Your Own Blood Pressure

 

Measuring your blood pressure at home and recording the
measurements has many benefits. Here are 5 reasons you should check your blood pressure regularly.

 

  1. Provide your doctor accurate information.  You and your doctor will know how much your blood pressure changes throughout the day and week. Your doctor can use your records to see how well your medicine is working to manage your blood pressure.
  2. Prevent erroneous diagnosis and treatment. 25% of elevated readings are false, when taken by someone other than you. Blood pressure is a continuously dynamic entity, varying up and down as result of current demands for circulation.  Readings taken regularly over a long period of time will provide more accurate information, leading to proper diagnosis and treatment.
  3. Motivate yourself to improve.  Measuring your own blood pressure is a good way to take part in managing your own health.  If your blood pressure is outside a normal healthy range, being aware of your blood pressure readings on a regular basis can motivate you to be more conscientious to make changes in your life to improve your blood pressure.
  4. Learn how your blood pressure responds to different circumstances. Whether it is exercise or stress, checking your blood pressure under different circumstances can provide insight into understanding your body’s response.
  5. Be more confident and rest assured.  When you know your blood pressure averages, you eliminate nagging concern and worry.

The LifeSpan Blood Pressure Monitor comes with a FREE membership in the LifeSpan Fitness Club.  Save your readings, upload them to your account, and review your history! Simple. Fast. Accurate.

Weight Loss – Numbers to Know

Want to lose weight? Here are a few numbers to know.

  • 3500 – The number of calories needed to burn to lose one pound of fat
  • 100 – Minimum number of additional calories burned for each pound of muscle gained
  • 500-1000– Recommended number of fewer calories to consume each day to lose weight
  • 1200 / 1800 – The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends that calorie intake never drop below 1,200 calories per day for women and 1,800 calories per day for men, otherwise you risk causing an ongoing reduction in resting metabolism.
  • 89  - Percent of people who lost 30 pounds or more, and kept it off for at least a year, by combining diet and exercise. (Only 10% succeeded by just dieting and only 1% succeeded by just exercising.) Survey by National Weight Control Registry.