So, What's Wrong with a Sedentary Lifestyle?

 “Couch potato?”
“I said, active couch potato.”

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I had just told my physiotherapist that I average eight hours of strenuous exercise a week. “I’m an athlete! I don’t just sit around.” She asked me to go through my day and remind her what I do when I’m not riding a bike.

“Well, I drive to work, go to my office and go home. I generally do something in the evening outside and then go to sleep.”
“So how many hours of your day would you estimate you’re not moving?” She knew the answer.
“Most of them, I suppose.” She grinned.

“The amount of exercise you get in a week is amazing. But then there’s all that time that most of us are just sitting around, and that’s why you’re here. You have chronic back pain largely because the majority of your life is sedentary. It happens to most of us. Humans aren’t meant to sit still.”

Living an active lifestyle is more than just going for a run everyday, but the industrialized world has evolved to a point where most of us are either sitting or lying down for the majority of our days. Being sedentary has profound effects on every part of our lives, increasing the risks of mental and physical disease and ailments. Even if the result of inactivity isn’t an acute injury or illness, it can still lead to a slow degradation to our quality of life. Being physically active has broad ranging benefits that we can begin to realize right from the start.

Maintaining & Building Bone Strength

Decreasing bone density is a well-documented effect of aging, but it can begin early in life, especially given sedentary time for typical western cultures is increasing. It is “estimated that 6% of women aged 50-54 years have osteoporosis.” There are a number of factors impacting the rate at which bones weaken, but a sedentary lifestyle is near the top of the list. The study referenced above indicates that even light physical activity decreases the risk of bone injury in women.

Simple weight-bearing exercises such as walking and climbing stairs can do wonders for building bone strength, and can then graduate into more strenuous activities such as hiking and running. Any movement that involves light impact - every step while walking is an impact - will help to trigger growth and strengthening in our bones.

Stronger Metabolism & Burning More Calories

Metabolism is the process through which the body converts what we eat and drink into the fuel we need to, well, live! How efficiently our metabolism works can impact a broad number of other bodily functions from circulation to emotional stability. A healthy metabolism means your entire body is readily provided with sufficient nutrition to perform at it’s best.

Regular exercise helps boost your metabolism, meaning the process will convert more fuel into energy (i.e. - burn more calories) for your body. And with an improved metabolic function, even after you finish exercising your body will continue to burn more calories and fat stores into fuel. This can make it easier to manage weight while providing you with more energy to get through your day.

Controlling Inflammation

We often think of inflammation as the result of an injury or a bee sting, but it’s relationship with the body is much more complex. Low-grade chronic inflammation, which might not be as apparent as a bruise, is associated with a number of diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer’s. As we age, even in the absence of chronic disease, our bodies become increasingly susceptible to inflammation. We grow stiff and sore, and risk further complications.

Regular exercise is a proven strategy to help us manage the degree of inflammation in our bodies, but the operative term is “regular.” Exercise in itself results in acute inflammation; we put our body through stress, break down tissue, and then strengthen during recovery. It’s part of the natural - and short-term - healing response our bodies perform after strenuous activity. To ensure that we benefit from the anti-inflammatory effects of exercise we need to build up our tolerance for the exertion. Equally as important, we need to recover fully in between workouts so that the acute inflammation doesn’t increase and become long-lasting.

Better Mental Health

            The benefit of exercise on mental health has been getting a lot of attention lately, but it’s so important that it bears further mention. Study after study suggests that regular exercise produces physiological changes to the chemistry of our brains that impacts our mood. More than just the “runner’s high” that follows activity, exercise helps to rewire how we deal with stress, providing opportunities to decrease anxiety and depression.

It’s tempting at the end of the day to grab a tea and turn on the television, but to really treat ourselves, movement is our health gift. We all need downtime, and it’s greatest benefit is realized in combination with regular activity.