We sit all the time, on average 12 hours a day when we work, and 9 a day on weekends. In retirement, it’s not much better, if not worse. The older we get, the less we move. This is what we call sedentary lifestyle.
“We often confuse physical inactivity and sedentary lifestyle, explains Professor Carré. A sedentary lifestyle is the time we spend sitting or lying down, outside of sleeping hours.”
Doing sport does not compensate for a sedentary lifestyle
The problem is not so much not doing sport, the problem is sitting for hours without getting up to walk.
“Look at people’s lives today, notes Professor Carré, as soon as they see a chair they sit down, in a waiting room, in public transport, at home, thinking that it will rest them. the chair does not rest. The chair is a real addiction.”
Worse, you can be sporty and sedentary! Doing sport does not compensate the deleterious effects of a sedentary lifestyle. “It’s as if we didn’t brush our teeth every day,” notes Professor Carré, “and we thought we’d compensate by brushing them 7 times on Sunday!”
The problem? Physiologically, sitting is undoubtedly one of the worst positions for our body. Legs bent or folded under the seat, our calf absolutely cannot fulfill its role as a pump to activate blood circulation. Our entire metabolic functioning is thus impacted.
10 to 15% less physical condition in thirty years
Studies follow one another and all show the same thing: we have lost 10 to 15% of our physical capacities over the last thirty years. And children even more (25%). “Children today run on average at 9.5 km/h when children in 1987 ran at 11 km/h,” laments Professor Carré.
If we do not quickly reverse the trend, we are heading towards an explosion of metabolic diseases linked to a sedentary lifestyle, even though according to our expert, 40,000 to 50,000 deaths in France per year are attributable to a sedentary lifestyle. Spending 3 to 6 hours a day sitting without getting up doubles the risk of cancer, Alzheimer’s or stroke.
Test your physical condition!
Do you think you are in good shape because you are not sick or have a chronic illness (diabetes for example)? Do you exercise once or twice a week? That you are not overweight? Error.
If you have sedentary work or you are sedentary, your physical condition is not optimal.
Do you doubt? Just do this little test proposed by Professor Carré: set your timer for 5 minutes then climb the stairs (classic, corresponds to a level of building or house, at least 15 steps). How many floors did you manage to climb in five minutes?
- Two, your physical condition is weak
- Four, your physical condition is average
- Six, your physical condition is good
This goes for all ages. A 60 year old who had cancer and climbs 6 floors has better physical abilities than a younger person, who never has any illness, but who only climbs 4 floors in five minutes.
The right combo: 6 times 5 minutes per day!
To overthrow the harmful effects of a sedentary lifestyle, the calculations are nevertheless simple and the advice accessible to everyone, whatever their fitness level and age. “You just need to walk 6 times for 5 minutes a day,” explains Professor Carré. Which gives 30 minutes of “walking” (we are not talking here about fitness walking or hiking, but simply taking longer steps, Editor’s note) per day, in other words 2% of the day.”
To counter the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle, we must also “break” the periods where we sit. How ? By getting up at least once per hour and walking 2 to 3 minutes.
Moving, without even realizing it
You are watching television ? Take advantage of the commercial break to get up and walk around the couch. Do you have a phone call? Same, chat while walking.
Without it costing you any effort, you will increase your active minutes and cut the effects of a sedentary lifestyle.
And above all, fight as much as possible against the attraction of the chair or the sofa.
Are you exhausted from your day? Rather than slumping on the couch, go out for a 15 minute walk. You will recover and “rest” (both physically and mentally) much more than by sitting down.
