Sedentary lifestyle: consequences, dangers, diagnosis of physical inactivity, diet, movement and prevention. The consequences of a sedentary lifestyle for men and how to overcome them

The development of modern technologies leads to the fact that a person spends most of his time in a sitting position - instead of walking in a car, heavy physical work is performed by automated systems. And, unfortunately, few people attach due importance to this. But in vain, because a sedentary lifestyle negatively affects the functioning of all vital functions of the human body. This is exactly what this article will discuss.

Consequences of a sedentary lifestyle

So, a sedentary lifestyle leads to the following negative consequences:

Excess body weight. The fact is that a person whose activity is related to sedentary work consumes more calories than he uses. Because of this, he gains an average of two to three kilograms per year.
Increased blood glucose levels, which can lead to the development of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. This is especially true for those with a sweet tooth. After all, glucose that comes into the blood from consumed food is absorbed much faster and easier during active physical activity.
Failure of the gastrointestinal tract - difficult bowel movements. In order for you to defecate without difficulty, physical activity is a must. Without this, feces will stagnate in the rectum. The consequence of this manifestation may be the appearance of hemorrhoidal cones.

In addition, lack of proper activity leads to diseases of the joints, the entire musculoskeletal system, as well as the cardiovascular and nervous systems.

How to stop the negative manifestations of a sedentary lifestyle?

If you cannot eliminate the causes of a sedentary life, then you will have to deal with the consequences, or rather, prevent them. Below we will describe several ways that we recommend adopting as a daily habit.

Firstly, be sure to walk home from work or go for an evening walk, spend 60 to 90 minutes on it. In addition to the fact that this walk will improve blood circulation and relieve stress on your joints, you will also get rid of problems with insomnia.

Secondly, balance your diet according to your calorie needs. Avoid sweets. Replace them with dried fruits, no more than 50 grams per day, nuts, also up to 50 grams per day, as they are quite high in calories. Steam, boil and bake dishes; use sunflower oil to a minimum. Consume proteins, fats and complex carbohydrates (cereals, bran bread, etc.). This will protect you from gaining excess body weight, improve digestion, and significantly reduce the risk of developing diabetes mellitus, a disease that ranks third in mortality in the world.

Third, do exercises in the morning for ten to fifteen minutes. Agree, this does not take much time, but all the muscles are stretched, the blood is saturated with oxygen. Plus, you will experience an incredible surge of strength.

As you can see, a sedentary lifestyle leads to various negative consequences for the human body. But these consequences can be easily avoided by adopting a few of our recommendations.

Good afternoon, dear readers! In today's fast paced lifestyle, a sedentary lifestyle is commonplace. But, unfortunately, not everyone is aware of the consequences, which in the near future may manifest themselves in the form of various diseases of organs and body systems. These diseases are not always completely cured, so they can become a burden for life. Today we’ll talk about how to minimize the risk of consequences if you still cannot completely give up sedentary activity.

Why is inactivity dangerous?

A sedentary lifestyle (inactivity) is an insufficient physical activity of an individual in the process of his life.

The abundance of information technologies and various modern gadgets relieve us of the need for constant or prolonged intense movement throughout the day. Many people work in offices and at home on computers, and rarely get up from their workplace to stretch their arms, legs, or simply move around.

On the one hand, this means less stress on the body, but on the other hand, it is dangerous. This way we don’t strain our muscles, we don’t train them, which can later result in various kinds of diseases for us.

Scientists' research results

According to recent studies, a sedentary lifestyle has a negative impact on life expectancy. Those who spend 8 or more hours in a sitting position for 5-10 years live about 15 years less compared to those who sit less than 3 hours a day.

Such studies were carried out by implanting special biomarkers and measuring key states of the body after being in a sitting position for a long time.
And on the contrary, in those who began to spend less than 8 hours a day in a sitting position, biomarkers began to decrease, and the insulin level in the blood normalized. Consequently, the risk of developing coronary heart disease, endocrine and cancer diseases decreased.

Biological consequences of a sedentary lifestyle

The natural level of blood and lymph flow decreases with reduced physical activity. They stagnate in the body, which leads to the production of bad cholesterol. In addition, the electrical activity of the muscles decreases significantly, their tone is lost, and lethargy and flabbiness appear.

Posture also suffers greatly at this time. It often happens that a person is not just sitting, but is in a position with a curved spine. The duration and unnaturalness of such loads is the main reason for the development of scoliosis, which in many cases may not be completely cured.

A failure in all vital processes of the body causes the appearance of one or, as often happens, several ailments at the same time, which are poorly treated or can become chronic.

Metabolic disorders, excess weight, lethargy, fatigue - such factors should become a signal to a person that something is wrong with him. This body lets you know that it’s time to change conditions or, if possible, reduce stress.

Diseases from inactivity

With insufficient physical activity, a malfunction occurs in the functioning of the entire body, as well as its individual organs. All calories that were consumed with food throughout the day must be absorbed and toxins removed.

When a person does not move enough, this rule does not apply, since there is no need to expend energy. In this case, the metabolism is disrupted. Excessive amounts of harmful substances accumulated by the body are not removed from it, which causes a clear deterioration in well-being.

Bad feeling

Most of those who have had to deal with insufficient physical activity, sooner or later may feel:

significant decrease in spinal flexibility;
apathy, depression;
hands and feet begin to go numb and cold;
and morning awakening;
soreness;
lethargy, constant fatigue.

Diseases

The consequences could be even more dire. As a result of the conditions mentioned above, diseases such as:

Osteochondrosis and scoliosis. These diseases develop due to insufficient load on the spine. Since the joints do not move, salt deposits occur in them, which can block normal blood circulation.
Obesity. Eating should not be followed by physical activity. Consequently, a sedentary lifestyle causes the accumulation of unused resources in the body, which accumulate in the form of fat deposits.
Constipation. A sitting position is unnatural for our body. A long stay in this state negatively affects the intestines, peristalsis is disrupted and constipation occurs. If this happens, then in addition to physical activity, you also need to undergo an appropriate examination by a specialized doctor to restore your normal state.
Constant headache. Significant overstrain of the cervical spine is its main cause.
Phlebeurysm. Many people have noticed how their lower extremities hurt after a working day spent in a sedentary position. This happens due to stagnation of venous blood. Over time, the tone of the vein walls weakens.
Problems with the reproductive system. For both men and women, sitting for long periods of time has a negative impact on the reproductive system. The reason is stagnation of blood in the pelvic area. According to statistics, it is for this reason that the number of infertility diagnoses has increased significantly.

But what to do if you can’t give up this lifestyle completely? How to minimize the harm of working at a computer or activities that require sitting? Everything is very simple! We must minimize its negative consequences. And the best way out of this situation will be regular physical exercise.

8 Exercises to Prevent Diseases

We have already figured out what inactivity leads to. Now let’s define a set of exercises that will help cope with the negative consequences of insufficient physical activity:

1. Every hour for 15 minutes, you should change your body position. You can walk, stand, run, or simply actively move your limbs while standing. This will make it possible to resume normal blood circulation and, as a result, normal blood supply to all organs and systems of the body.

2. If it is not possible to get up from the table, you can do the following:

bend and straighten your legs at the knees;
perform circular rotations of the feet;
tilt and move your head in a circle;
tense and relax the muscles of the buttocks;
turn the body left and right;
tense and relax your back muscles;
raise the toes of your feet without lifting your heels from the floor;
clench and unclench your fingers and toes.

3. Stretch or do periodic bends left and right.

4. Bend forward as low as possible, trying to reach your toes with your fingers.

5. Imitate walking with high knees.

6. Daily morning exercises. This should become an integral part of your day. Few people do it at home before work. This is done by people who know for sure that 20 minutes spent on exercise in the morning will more than pay off with normal well-being throughout the day until the evening.

7. Take walks as often as possible. Force yourself to leave the house 20-30 minutes earlier and calmly walk to work. You will see how after a week or two you will no longer want to use transport. While walking, you will have time to think, get distracted, admire the surrounding nature and, most importantly, stretch your muscles and prepare yourself for sedentary work.

8. Spend weekends in nature. Everyone knows that prevention is much more useful and cheaper than treatment. An active lifestyle is the key to the normal functioning of all organs and systems. If you lead an active lifestyle, you do not expose your body to the risk of diseases and pathologies.

Conclusion

Timely work on yourself, regular physical activity, and, if necessary, seeking advice from a specialized specialist will become your helpers in case of inactivity. Remember that any disease is easier to prevent than to treat. And it’s much healthier for your health.

Follow these simple rules! Let your work bring you only pleasure!

The material for the article was prepared by Yulia Gintsevich.

We all know the already hackneyed phrase “Movement is life.” A lot of books have been written, many educational films and programs have been made about the role and importance of movement and physical activity for humans.

But nevertheless, statistics show that more and more children and adults are susceptible to various diseases associated with a sedentary lifestyle.

Of course, technical progress is growing. For most people, with the widespread use of the Internet and all sorts of gadgets, you can get everything delivered to your home: order any product, communicate with family and friends, work without leaving home, etc.

This is all good if you use it in moderation, not forgetting about the physical body, the healing effects of fresh air and being in nature, as well as maintaining hygiene at work and rest, etc.

What are the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle?

In people who lead a sedentary lifestyle, the natural level of lymph and blood flow in the body decreases. This leads to their “stagnation” and an increase in the amount of “bad” cholesterol. The electrical activity of the muscles also decreases, their flabbiness is observed due to low tone, which in combination leads to an increased risk of heart disease and contributes to the “accumulation” of excess weight. And even observes a decrease in the amount of insulin produced by the body!

You should also pay attention to the position of the person’s posture. Indeed, in most cases, a person not only leads a sedentary lifestyle, but sits a lot with a twisted spine. Which makes a sedentary lifestyle even more dangerous and harmful to humans.

As a result of this lifestyle, a disruption occurs in all life processes of the human body. First of all - in the process of metabolism. During normal functioning of the body, all substances introduced into the body in a timely manner must be processed and absorbed, and waste products must be eliminated. If this does not happen, then an excess amount of harmful substances accumulates in the body. This in turn leads to a clear deterioration in well-being:

the flexibility of the spine decreases;
feet and hands begin to freeze;
a person is increasingly in a lethargic and apathetic state;
often susceptible to illness;
has difficulty falling asleep and has difficulty getting up in the morning;
often appears tired and unrested.

Thus, scientists have come to the conclusion: in order to work productively and simply live normally, we need to constantly move and switch from a sedentary to an active lifestyle.

The problems of a sedentary lifestyle and its impact on the development of a person, and in particular a child, are competently and interestingly described in the short film by Valery Berchun “Immobility is a disease of civilization.”

General educational film “Immobility is a disease of civilization.”

An educational and interesting program from the Russian Union for the Health and Development of Children.

The film talks about how movement affects the life of both an adult and a child. The negative impact of a sedentary lifestyle—the “immobility” of modern man—is illustrated. And how does all this affect the harmonious and complex development of a person, especially a child.

We hope that this information will give you something to think about about your lifestyle, and that even some of you will put these tips into practice.

By changing your habits, formed due to ignorance and ignorance, you can radically improve your health without resorting to expensive drug treatment.

For those people who strive for harmonious and integrated development, for well-being, joy and happiness, it is necessary to reconsider their daily routine and make appropriate changes.

You will learn about what changes you need to make to your lifestyle in our next articles.

Article " “Inactivity – what are the dangers of such a lifestyle?”» prepared specifically for

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Currently, sedentary work and, accordingly, a sedentary lifestyle have become widespread.

Of course, it’s better to sit in the office than to carry heavy things. But an office worker suffers no less harm than a loader.

Obesity, dysfunction of the cardiovascular system, joint pain and many other diseases are associated with a sedentary lifestyle.

A person sits all the time: in transport, at work, at home, visiting, in a cafe. But how safe is it?

Harm and consequences

Let's look at some of the unpleasant consequences of a sedentary lifestyle.

1. Impaired functioning of the body.

During sedentary work, the main load falls on the cervical and lumbar regions. The vertebrae of the first of them become pinched, which leads to a decrease in the intensity of blood flow to the brain. The result is headaches and blurred vision. Osteochondrosis of the lumbar region may also develop.

The spine is interconnected with the work of all other human organs. In addition, scoliosis will not take long to appear. This is why it is so important that the spine is always straight and does not experience increased stress.

2. Disruption of the normal functioning of the cardiac system and the risk of atherosclerosis, angina and heart attack.

People who spend most of their lives sitting at a desk have twice the risk of dying from heart failure than those who work.

3. A person who works at a computer primarily using a mouse is susceptible to inflammatory processes in the right (or left) area of the body due to the constantly raised arm.

4. Development of varicose veins.

People who sit at a desk all day suffer from poor blood circulation in the lower extremities, which immediately leads to the development of varicose veins, this is especially unpleasant for women.

Crossing one leg over the other increases the risk of this disease even further. The vessels are pinched and blood stagnates in certain places.

5. Formation of incorrect posture in children and problems with the proper functioning of the respiratory tract (due to an underdeveloped chest that is subject to constant compression).

6. Constipation and hemorrhoids.

Stagnant processes in the pelvis can lead to the development of chronic constipation. This disease causes great discomfort and often leads to hemorrhoids, which can be very difficult to cure.

7. When constantly staying in the same sitting position, the lower part of a person’s body begins to gradually increase in volume. This occurs due to increased pressure on this area and increased the body produces subcutaneous fat by as much as one and a half times.

8. There is a risk of developing diabetes mellitus due to increased blood sugar, excess weight and increased blood pressure.

9. Weakening muscles, spine and joints, which begin to hurt very much.

10. Increased mortality rate(by 40%) among women leading a passive lifestyle. For men, this figure is 20%.

Effects of a sedentary lifestyle on men's health

1. Deterioration of erectile function. For normal potency, blood flow to the pelvis is necessary, as well as its outflow. When sitting, blood circulation deteriorates significantly, which leads to the development of stagnant or even inflammatory processes that can lead to more serious problems.

2. Prostatitis. An exclusively male disease associated with inflammation of the prostate gland. The disease is accompanied by unpleasant moments: premature ejaculation, frequent and painful urination, pain and stinging in the perineum, inability to achieve orgasm and many others. As a result, a man’s sex life comes to naught, which adversely affects the general condition of his body.

3. Hormonal imbalance. With a sedentary lifestyle, fat deposits increase, which leads to hormonal imbalance. Female sex hormones - estrogens - are formed in adipose tissue, which cause the appearance of a belly in a man. Getting rid of it, I must say, is not so easy.

As you can see, a sedentary lifestyle is dangerous, so you need to compensate by running or doing daily exercise.