Ever notice how a long day of sitting can leave you feeling more exhausted than energized?
When you’re tired, you’re told to sit down and rest. Why? Because sitting (aka resting) is obviously beneficial for helping your body recuperate, leading you to feel more energized when you stand back up.
Yet, ask anyone who has spent an entire day sitting at a desk or even lounging at home, and you’ll more than likely hear the opposite.
What the heck?! If a little is good, why is a lot bad?
The Science of Sitting Fatigue
You might’ve heard, “Sitting is the new smoking.” While that may be a bit overdramatic, there’s some grim truth to it – prolonged sitting has been linked to a myriad of health problems. But beyond the well-known issues like weight gain, heart disease, and back pain, sitting for long periods also directly contributes to that familiar mental and physical fatigue you experience by day’s end.
- Energy Drain from Poor Posture
Sitting is supposed to allow our body to rest. Unfortunately, that’s negated if we don’t do so with good posture … and the majority of us have poor posture.
When you slouch or round your back, your body is working harder than it should be just to keep you upright. Hence, while you may not feel like you’re exerting effort, you are. And let’s not forget the extra tension in the spine, shoulders, and neck that can lead to draining chronic pain.
- Decreased Circulation = Lower Energy Levels
The more you move physically, the more your blood moves. Obviously, the inverse also applies.
Sitting for long periods reduces blood flow to your muscles and vital organs, including your brain. With less blood flowing, there’s less oxygen and nutrients being delivered to your cells. And when that happens, you start to feel sluggish.
- Benching Your Metabolism
Sitting is hardly a cardiovascular activity. Thus, you don’t need as much energy to do it. And if you do it too much, your body will adapt by lowering your metabolism. That leads to weight gain and increased fatigue because your body’s ability to produce and use energy efficiently becomes as sedentary as you are in that chair.
- The Cognitive Cost of Sitting
Lower blood flow, poor energy use, and a fatigued body … it only makes sense your mental sharpness will also take a hit under these conditions.
A study in The Journal of Physical Activity and Health found sedentary behavior is linked to poorer cognitive performance, particularly in tasks requiring focus and mental flexibility. This makes sense—our brains need stimulation and activity to stay sharp. Without regular movement, our cognitive abilities decline, making it harder to concentrate and feel mentally energized.
- The Psychological Toll of Inactivity
There’s a big difference between sitting on the couch chatting with a friend and hunkering over a keyboard at a desk. The first can actually energize you, but for many of us, the latter is reality. And with that comes isolation, disengagement, and emotional fatigue.
Fortunately, as bad as this all sounds, there’s a simple way to combat it all.
Move!
A study from the American Heart Association recommends the 20-8-2 rule: for every 20 minutes, you sit, stand for 8 minutes, and move for at least 2 minutes.
Finding simple ways to move throughout the day can make all the difference—because the less you sit, the more alive you feel.
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