If you have a full-time desk job or any kind of work that requires you to sit for hours at a time, you have a sedentary job.
A few examples of sedentary jobs include:
- Uber, bus or taxi driver
- Call center or customer service worker
- Receptionist
- Web developer
- Social media marketer
- Writer, editor, blogger
- Illustrator, graphic artist
- Architect
In the U.S., a sedentary job is any job where an employee lifts no more than 10 pounds during the course of their duties.
Ha! I put my laptop on a scale and it only weighs 3 pounds.
In 2021, 16% of companies globally were fully remote according to an Owl Labs study. You remember 2021, don’t you? Most of the earth’s population were cowering in their homes.
Although many have returned to workplaces — which require movement to get to — many of us are still sitting for at least seven hours a day.
Sitting is the new smoking
This phrase was first used by James A. Levine, MD, PhD., an American Professor of Endocrinology and Nutrition Research at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Those of us with sedentary jobs read this headline with sadness.
I was a smoker on and off for 10 years in my teens and twenties, giving it up when I had children. It’s discouraging to think that the cancers I dodged by throwing away cigarettes were just replaced by the job I’ve been doing for decades.
And you thought working was good
According to the Australian State of Victoria’s Better Health website, a lifestyle that doesn’t include much movement puts you at higher risk for:
- Being overweight
- Type 2 diabetes
- Heart disease
- Depression
- Anxiety
Turns out, whoever designed humans intended them to stand upright. Our hearts and bowels just work better when we’re upright.
Those who have active jobs — for example, teachers, nurses, paramedics, construction workers — are more likely to have higher energy levels and endurance. Their bones maintain strength, too.
Dr. Maria Doce, my family doctor of many years, once explained that pavement-pounding exercise such as brisk walking or running (or construction work) tells the body to build more bone.
With long periods of sitting, the large leg and gluteal muscles we depend on for walking can weaken. As a result, we may:
- Injure ourselves by falling
- Suffer strains when exercising
Years of sitting can also cause our hip flexors to shorten, causing problems with our hip joints.
Whether you walk for 20 minutes a day or do gentle yoga a few times a week, moving your muscles also helps your body digest fats and sugars. Without regular muscle movement, those fats and sugars become fat in your body (I know you know what I’m talking about).
If at the end of the day, you move from your office chair to the couch, the effects are even worse.
Research from one of America’s top medical teaching and research institutions shows that more than 10 hours of sitting per day increases your heart risks significantly.
How to avoid the bad effects of sedentary job
The most obvious way to avoid the ill effects of spending 35 or more hours a week in a chair is to get a job that’s active.
But if roofing, restaurant service or FedEx delivery doesn’t appeal to you, try these tips instead.
1. Move regularly
One way to lower the negative effects of a sedentary job is to move regularly.
You can use an app that reminds you to get up every 30-60 minutes — even if just to get a drink or stand outside for a few minutes.
Stretch your hip flexors, neck, and back (how-tos here) — three areas that get especially stiff for desk workers.
2. Get a good chair
This suggestion might not actually offset the negative effects of sitting, but it will head off some problems you don’t want.
During COVID, when everyone was working from home, my company generously gave employees a stipend to use for office equipment.
After doing some research, I bought a WorkPro 12,000 Series multifunction executive chair that I’m still using four years later. It’s fully adjustable, including lower back (lumbar) support. This is not a paid endorsement — it’s just what I use.
Whatever chair you use, it should allow you to sit with your feet flat on the floor at a 90-degree angle. Once you’ve got that sorted:
- Raise or lower your computer monitor so you are looking straight ahead as you work, not up or down.
- If your chair doesn’t have lumbar support, use a small pillow so you’re sitting forward.
If you’re short like me or are using the kitchen table and chairs, you may need a footrest. This could be as simple as a box, although you can buy a footrest as well.
3. Get a standing desk
This is another good one, as a standing desk will return you to an upright position.
The more expensive ones are electric and can be moved up or down at the touch of a button. They allow you to either sit or stand at various times during the day.
A less expensive option — besides stacking boxes on top of your desk or kitchen counter (which I have done) — is a desktop riser, or standing desk converter.
These devices rest on your desk, raising your laptop to a height that is comfortable for standing.
With one of these you can alternately stand and sit to work as you like.
4. Take up walking
Ever since Fitbits were invented, the world has adopted 10,000 steps as a daily goal.
10,000 steps is roughly 5 miles.
For those of you who must report to an office or workplace, you accrue some of those steps when you:
- Walk or bike to work
- Park farther away from your work site and walk in
- Take the stairs rather than the lift or elevator
- Walk around the kitchen while you wait for your tea or lunch to heat
The beauty of a wearable device like a Fitbit is that it records all your activity, showing you when you need to go for a walk to increase your total. Again, this is not a paid endorsement, it’s just what I use.
Reducing your risk may be easier than you think
Yes, your sedentary job comes with health risks.
However, a new study by the British Journal of Sports Medicine has some good news.
“Clocking up just 20-25 minutes of physical activity every day may be enough to offset the heightened risk of death from a highly sedentary lifestyle,” notes the study’s authors.
20-25 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity each day lowers your risk of death due to a sedentary lifestyle.
And get this: Among those over 50, the more minutes you exercise, the lower your risk. According to this study, this is true no matter how much time you spend seated during the day.
Start moving!
People who have sedentary jobs and don’t make up for it have a 20-30% higher risk of death than those who do, according to the World Health Organization.
So whether you choose to walk, bike, dance or swim, get moving!
I’ll leave you with the recommended physical activity for adults provided by the American Heart Association:
- Get at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous aerobic activity, or a combination of both, preferably spread throughout the week.
- Add moderate- to high-intensity muscle-strengthening activity (such as resistance or weights) on at least 2 days per week.
- Spend less time sitting. Even light-intensity activity can offset some of the risks of being sedentary.
- Gain even more benefits by being active at least 300 minutes (5 hours) per week.
- Increase amount and intensity gradually over time.
Don’t get discouraged if you can only manage one or two things on this list. According to the BMJ study mentioned above, if you get 22 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous exercise, you’ve improved your chances of living longer.
Find a partner for your daily 22-minute sessions — this will increase the likelihood that you actually do them. Get into the habit and you can look forward to living longer.
Frequently asked questions
Still have questions about how a sedentary job could affect your health and longevity? The answers may be here.
What are the dangers of a sedentary job?
People who spend six to 10 of their waking hours sitting or lying down have been found to have higher rates of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and death from all causes.
“The poor health effects from too much sitting are separate from whether you are physically active or not. They are separate behaviours in the same way that smoking is different from diet,” says Professor Stuart Biddle, head of the Physically Active Lifestyles (PALs) Research Group at the University of Southern Queensland, AU.
How many hours is considered sedentary?
After searching credible sources online, it looks like the consensus is six hours or more per day.
Keep in mind that this includes ALL the time you spend seated:
- Working
- Watching TV
- Playing video games
- Bent over a screen
- Driving or riding in vehicles
- Reading
What are 3 serious health issues linked to a sedentary lifestyle?
A sedentary lifestyle may increase your chances of:
- Cardiovascular disease
- High blood pressure
- Diabetes
It can lead to obesity and what the Mayo Clinic calls metabolic syndrome. This is characterised by increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist and unhealthy cholesterol levels.
What are the side effects of sitting all day?
Here are a few common side effects (and suggestions on how to ease them) from the experts at Yale Medicine:
- Swelling and ache in lower legs and feet due to blood and fluid pooling there. (Try wearing elasticized compression stockings [15 to 20 or even 20 to 30 mm Hg].)
- Lower back pain and spine issues due to sitting with poor posture (Refer to the section entitled “How to avoid the bad effects of a sedentary job” above.)
- Heart disease (Take a short walk every hour.)
- Weight gain and obesity (Don’t eat while doing something else – working, reading the news, watching YouTube. Give your meals your undivided attention. This will lower your chance of overeating.)
- Cancer due to extra weight (Do as much of your job standing as you can, as standing burns twice as many calories as sitting.)
The key, says Dr. Xavier Llor, MD, PhD is “to foster and promote a healthy lifestyle in general. This includes regular physical exercise, not smoking, minimizing alcohol and meat, and eating enough fruits and vegetables.”
Dr. Llor is co-director of the Smilow Cancer Genetics & Prevention Program and medical director of the Colorectal Cancer Prevention Program at the Yale School of Medicine.
Please don’t take any of this is medical advice, as I am not qualified to provide any. Be sure to see a medical doctor or certified health professional with questions about your diet or exercise plan.
