If you want to trim down that thick waist, you’ll need to spend less time sitting on the job.
Not only are desk jobs linked to bigger stomachs, but they’re linked to a bigger risk of heart disease.
Dr. William Tigbe’s research shows that a thick waist correlates to many hours a day sitting at the desk.
The Study’s Alarming Results
• For seven days activity monitors were attached to 55 healthy desk job workers and 56 healthy mail carriers.
• The desk job subjects had bigger waistlines (97 cm).
• The carriers had average waists of 94 cm.
• This disparity, though seemingly miniscule, translates to about one BMI unit difference!
• Over 10 years the desk job workers had a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, meaning 2.2 percent vs. 1.6 percent.
Let’s Put This into Perspective
• Waistline increases by two cm for every additional hour of sitting after five hours.
• With that additional hour added onto a five-hour baseline comes increases in “bad” cholesterol and decreases in beneficial cholesterol.
As I write this article I am standing at a makeshift computer station in my parents’ dining room, as I’ve been staying with them for several days to help my senior age father (who normally uses a walker) recover from a sprained ankle.
How many steps a day are linked to zero risk factors for heart disease?
Sorry to say this, but it’s 15,000, reports the study.
This equates to a seven to eight mile walk or spending seven hours a day on your feet including standing still.
Dr. Tigbe points out in the report that these recommendations would be “very challenging to achieve unless incorporated into people’s occupations.”
The paper explains that humans did not evolve to adapt healthfully to “spending all day sitting down.”
Our ancient ancestors were hunter-gatherers—on their feet a heck of a lot on any given day.
So how do you get in 15,000 steps a day (or seven to eight miles) if your job has you at a desk for much of your shift?
One way is to briskly walk 10 minutes on a treadmill (no holding on) without fail before every strength training workout and after as well. Make this a habit.
Here is how to get in 15,000 steps a day and start de-thickening your waist!
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
.
