Sitting can shorten your life — butt of course!

Of course, I’m doing this sitting down. Fact is, I lead a pretty sedentary (really pretty but very sedentary) life. The last time I ran was when I was running late for an interview with a politician. And then I ran into somebody I knew back in high school on my way to another appointment. The next day, I found myself running a fever as I climbed into bed and dove under the sheet. So much for “running” as my favorite exercise!

All ye couch potatoes out there, sit up and take notice of this report:  “From smart phones to computers to iPads (iPods and iPhones, and all those techie gizmos), our beloved electronic devices are crippling our posture and contributing to weight gain, back pain, and joint problems like carpal tunnel syndrome.”

Though I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy (which I really don’t have), experts say back pain is probably the least of your worries if you spend a great deal of your time without any physical activity. Studies show that sitting may actually shorten your life (the longer you sit, the shorter you live?). The more your body is in inertia or state of rest, the less it wants to move.

As can be gleaned from at least 18 studies, “people who sat for the longest periods of time were twice as likely to have diabetes or heart disease, compared to those who sat the least.” As bad as smoking and obesity, this modern-day scourge that is sitting is “an important risk factor for chronic disease.”

American lawyer/civil rights advocate Florynce Rae Kennedy was probably right when she said, “The biggest sin is sitting on your ass.”

According to a report published in the New York Times: “After just an hour of sitting, the production of enzymes that burn fat in your body declines by as much as 90 percent. Extended sitting slows your body’s metabolism of glucose and decreases your HDL, which is the type of lipid you want more of, instead of less. This explains why those who sit habitually for extended periods of time have higher risk for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular problems.”

You will probably jump up from your seat if you read the following research findings:

• A 2010 study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise indicates that  those who were sedentary for more than 23 hours a week had a 64-percent greater risk of dying of heart disease than those who were sedentary less than 11 hours a week.

• A study of more than 17,000 Canadians found that the risk of death from all causes was 1.54 times higher among people who spent most of their day sitting, compared to those who sat infrequently.

• An Australian study notes that sitting time is a predictor of weight gain among women, even after controlling calories consumed and leisurely physical activity like exercise.

• People who use a computer for at least 11 hours per week or watch TV for more than 21 hours per week are more likely to be obese than those who use a computer or watch TV for more than five hours per week. (Now you know why you’re packing on the pounds faster than you can say adipose fat.)

• Studies show that “your risk of metabolic syndrome rises in a dose-dependent manner depending on your screen time (the amount of time you spend watching TV or using a computer). ” That means that the more time you spend before the boob tube or a desk top, the more at risk you are.

Happily, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal, “reducing the average time you spend sitting to less than three hours per day can increase your life expectancy by two years, which is a significant decrease from the 4.5 to 5 hours per day the average American now spends on a chair or sofa.”

But before you make a dash for the gym, note that research has also suggested that “a regular fitness regimen might be insufficient to counteract the effects of excessively sedentary habits during the remaining hours of the day, due to the adverse metabolic impact of sitting. Especially if the fitness regimen is focused around equipment that puts you back in a seated position like a recumbent bike or rowing machine.”

So, even if you hit the gym four to five times a week or ride the bike to work, you may still have to put up with the effects of too much sitting if a great part of your day is spent on the couch or behind a desk. It’s what researchers call “active couch potato effect.”

Fortunately for us haplessly incurable couch potatoes, the all-important cure is really very simple: Just get up and do a few simple exercises — but you must do this as often as possible if you spend a lot of your life sitting.

Mobility expert/physical therapist Kelly Starrett gives some excellent tips on how to maintain good posture while working for extended periods in a chair.

• Stand up with your feet pointing straight forward or slightly inward. Realign your pelvis by simply squeezing your butt tightly — this will be more effective if you internally rotate your feet 10-15 degrees (big toes slightly towards each other), roll feet to the outside of the arch, and then try to pull the back of the legs together without the heels moving. This will allow the thigh and butt muscles to work together; the squeeze alone is otherwise less effective.

• Create some tension in your core by slightly tightening your abdominals — just up to 20 percent of your max.

• Correct your shoulder position by externally rotating (think of unscrewing) your shoulders and arms (rolling your shoulders back), which brings your shoulder blades closer together, your chest up and forward, and your thumbs pointing away from your body.

• While keeping your shoulders externally rotated, turn your hands back to neutral, so that your thumbs are now facing forward.

Still sitting there? These immortal words by 19th-century American businessman/inventor Charles Franklin Kettering may move you: “Keep on going and chances are, you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I have never heard of anyone stumbling on something sitting down.”

So, don’t just sit there, do something!