Sedentary life is a label of contemporary people. Children sit from school to school, and adults sit from the beginning of work to the end of overtime. In this way, people spend one-third of their day sitting.
Although it takes a long time, you still have to sit when you need to. However, if you often feel soreness and pain in your neck, shoulders, waist and legs; often experience loss of appetite, indigestion or abdominal bloating; sit still for a long time and feel dizzy when you stand up suddenly; occasionally feel numbness in your fingertips; or abdominal fat accumulates faster , the calves become thicker; fatigue and weakness, sometimes dizziness and poor energy. These symptoms all point to the fact that you’ve been sitting for too long!
Before starting the main text, it is important to emphasize the fact that sitting for long periods of time includes more than just sitting.
In the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents", sedentary behavior and static behavior are reviewed together, which refers to long-term sitting or lying down except sleeping, including long-term sitting and working, using computers, watching TV, and playing with mobile phones. All forms of sitting and lying down. The reason why sitting and lying down are included is that the body consumes very little energy during these times and does not allow any part of the body to move.
A sedentary lifestyle can unknowingly lead to numerous health problems and is a major potential cause of death, disease, disability and disability. Sitting for long periods of time is a health risk signal, with people who sit for long periods of time having a 200% increased risk of disease compared with healthier groups who are the most physically active and sit for the shortest amount of time. It is because of this that the World Health Organization has long listed prolonged sitting as one of the ten leading causes of death and disease.
Having said so much, which part of the body will be affected by sitting for a long time? What kind of health problems will it bring to us?
First, your butt will slowly get bigger because sitting for long periods of time can lead to dead butt syndrome. If you sit for too long, your gluteal muscles will forget how to recover and remain relaxed even when you stand up or exercise. This will make the buttocks become flat and flabby, which will greatly affect the appearance. It will also affect other parts of the body, such as thick thighs and low back pain.
Secondly, the lumbar intervertebral disc will herniate. When a person sits, the force on the lumbar spine increases by 50% compared to when standing. When sitting with extreme flexion, the force on the lumbar spine is 100% greater than when standing. People who sit or stand for long periods of time, or who work with their heads down for long periods of time are at high risk for lumbar disc herniation.
Also, intestinal motility will slow down. As the times change, more and more people are accustomed to sitting in front of computers for long periods of time, which weakens and slows down intestinal peristalsis. Harmful components in feces, including carcinogens, remain in the colon and irritate the intestinal mucosa. In addition, People who sit for long periods of time have poor blood circulation in the abdominal cavity, pelvic cavity, and lumbosacral region, which can lead to a decrease in intestinal capacity, which increases the risk of disease.
As well as the degeneration of the knee meniscus, the knee meniscus itself does not have any vascular tissue, and its nutritional supply mainly relies on pressure changes in the joint cavity. When you sit still for a long time, there is no pressure difference, and the meniscal structure cannot receive sufficient nutrition, causing meniscus degeneration to become increasingly severe. When the severity reaches a certain level, the meniscus will undergo various injuries under stress, such as rupture and wear, leading to knee joint inflammation.
Finally, for women, sitting for long periods of time every day increases the risk of fatal embolism by 2 to 3 times. The longer you sit in front of the computer, the less and slower the blood flow in your knees will be, which increases the chance of thrombosis. For men, when sitting upright, the center of gravity of the human body is in the middle. Maintaining the same sitting posture for a long time must It will compress the prostate and lead to poor blood circulation over time. This may cause inflammation, congestion, and hypertrophy, thereby inducing prostate disease.
I guess you have seen a lot of videos of "fragile college students" recently. Some people get bloated and vomit after eating, some people faint after taking a bath, and some people sprain their feet and break their bones. Although they cannot It is concluded that these are caused by sitting for a long time, but sitting for a long time has also affected the health of many people.
There are many dangers of sitting for a long time, so what should we do if we sit for a long time?
First of all, you should exercise or get up every thirty or forty minutes. Long-term immobility can cause changes in enzymes in muscles, which can cause problems such as increased blood sugar. The effects occur almost immediately, so waiting until the end of the day to do a workout won't provide complete protection.
The second is sitting activities. You can search for office exercise equipment online. The advantage of this kind of fitness equipment is that it is small and has a small range of motion. It is very suitable for people who go to school and work.
I found a few for you. The first one is the swing pedal. I won’t include the picture. You can find it by searching. This thing is just two wheels, and then a board is fixed in the middle. When your feet are placed on it, your calves and ankles can be fully exercised; there is also this sitting bicycle, which is actually similar to the spinning bicycles we see in the gym, except that But this one is smaller. This equipment covers wider joints than the swing pedal above, mobilizes more muscles, and can promote blood circulation. In addition, there are ring rollers, figure-8 tensioners, Kegel trainers, etc.
Of course, it doesn't mean you have to buy these things. If you can think of it yourself and move your legs and feet, you can do it. After all, doing something is better than doing nothing.
Finally, one thing to note is to choose the healthiest posture to sit in.
Adjust the height of the seat so that the soles of your feet are flat on the ground. When the seat is too high, your feet will hang in the air or stand on your tiptoes. You need to lower the height or put pedals under your feet. The seat is too low, and you will bend your knees and hook your feet after sitting down, which is also uncomfortable; the angle between the thigh and calf is more comfortable between 95° and 100°. At this time, the thighs and buttocks bear the weight of the body evenly, so that one section will not be uncomfortable; supporting the elbows and forearms on the table or armrest can help relax the shoulders. When typing or studying, keep the angle between the upper arm and forearm at about 100° to reduce the pressure on the shoulders and neck.
The most common incorrect sitting posture is to bend over like a shrimp, which will significantly increase the pressure on the spine and surrounding muscles. But overcorrecting and straightening it into a bow is also not good, so just use a little force to straighten your waist. The thoracic spine is naturally a little curved, so it is not enough to straighten it completely. It should be kept slightly curved. Do not lower your head too much, as this may cause headaches and shoulder and neck pain. Moreover, the weight of the head is equivalent to one-seventh of the body weight. Extending the head forward will increase the pressure on the neck by 3 to 5 times.
Pay attention to left and right symmetry. Some people like to sit crookedly or diagonally. If their left and right movements are inconsistent, the stress on their muscles and bones will be uneven. Over time, the body may freeze in a twisted state, or may experience soreness due to imbalanced muscle tension. In addition, if you cannot sit for a long time, try to choose a chair with a backrest. It can reduce the pressure on the spine and relax the muscles, making them less tired.
When a person sits down for half an hour, the blood flow rate in the calf will decrease by 70%. When the blood flow slows down, Qi will become stagnant and the blood will gradually become blocked. At this time, it is easy to form Qi stagnation and blood stasis. In addition, if the blood does not flow smoothly, there will be less fresh blood. Over time, the person will become weak, sleep and metabolism will be affected, and the person's complexion will become worse and worse.
Therefore, we need to activate blood circulation and remove blood stasis.
There are three yin meridians running along the inner side of the calf: liver meridian, spleen meridian, and kidney meridian. The Yin meridian governs the upward flow of Qi and blood, which requires a lot of power. Sitting for a long time will slow down the flow of Qi and blood, so the lower legs are prone to blood clots and have many pain points. The inner side of the calf is the "qi and blood turning point" of the lower body and is densely covered with acupuncture points. If you often sit for long periods of time, or have a cold lower body, blood stasis, or insufficient Qi and blood, you can rub the inside of your calf more often.
Method: According to the direction of the three yin meridians of the foot (liver, spleen, kidney), rub from bottom to top, carefully look for hidden pain points and nodules, rub them, you can rub them several times, do it on both legs, every day 5~10 minutes is enough. Sanyinjiao is the intersection point of the Liver, Spleen, and Kidney meridians. One point can connect the three meridians. This point can be pressed and rubbed for a while, but it is contraindicated by pregnant women. Its location is on the inside of the calf, 3 inches (4 finger widths) above the tip of the medial malleolus (the highest point of the ankle bone), and at the intersection with the posterior edge of the tibia. This point is where you feel pain when you press it.
If you feel pain all over your body after sitting for a long time, such as low back pain, cervical pain, shoulder blade pain, etc., the pain is characterized by a constant pain, like acupuncture. It feels more comfortable when you press it, but it hurts more when you turn it. It feels lighter during the day and heavier at night, and it doesn't relieve itself for a long time. Then you might as well try Xuefu Zhuyu Pills. Xuefu Zhuyu Pills are suitable for cases where liver fire and blood stasis are caused at the same time. Of course, you can use it if you don’t have liver fire; you can also try the Huoxue Siwu Decoction, which consists of: 9g of Angelica sinensis, 9g of Ligusticum chuanxiong, 12g of Rehmannia glutinosa, 12g of white peony root, 6g each of cinnamon, peach kernel, safflower and Corydalis. These two prescriptions can be soaked in feet or taken.
"Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen Xuan Ming Five Qi Chapter" mentioned: "Looking for a long time damages the blood, lying down for a long time damages the qi, sitting for a long time damages the flesh, standing for a long time damages the bones, and walking for a long time damages the tendons. These are injuries caused by the five types of labor." Therefore. , Sitting for a long time is one of the five types of injuries caused by traditional Chinese medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine theory believes that the spleen combines with the muscles in the body and governs the limbs. Sitting for a long time damages the body and also damages the spleen. Therefore, the spleen cannot effectively moisturize the muscles and cannot provide necessary nutrients. This leads to long-term sitting that damages the muscles. reason.
There is a two-way regulatory relationship between sitting for a long time and the spleen. Therefore, people who often sit for a long time can eat some spleen-tonifying ingredients, such as yam, japonica rice, millet, pumpkin, corn, lotus root, lotus seeds, coix seed, gorgon fruit, etc.
As for dietary therapy, I recommend you try yam, glutinous rice and barley soup. Ingredients: 18 grams of yam, 15 grams of gorgon seeds, 30 grams of fried barley, 15 grams of astragalus, and 150 grams of pork ribs. Method: Soak the yam in water, stir-fry the barley in a pan until slightly yellow, wash the ribs and cut them into pieces, and wash the gorgon seeds and astragalus with clean water. Put all the ingredients into the soup pot, simmer for an hour and a half, and season; Coix Seed and Lotus Seed Porridge. Ingredients: 45 grams of coix seed, 30 grams of lotus meat, appropriate amount of rock sugar. Method: Wash the coix kernels and lotus seed meat, put them into a pot, add an appropriate amount of water, bring to a boil over high heat, simmer until half-cooked, add rock sugar, cook until the porridge is cooked, and serve.
Many people may have started to think, "I've already worked overtime, it would be nice if I could sit on the bus!", "I still have a bunch of books to read, how can I do it without sitting down?" But what I want to say is Yes, since fate has to force me to sit, then exercising every once in a while and sitting in the healthiest posture is my best resistance to fate! Okay, that’s the entire content of this article. If you have any other questions, please leave them in the comment area.
