Can You Get Fit By Just Standing?

Doctors say being active is the miracle cure we’ve been waiting for to reduce cancer and heart diseases

• Sitting is as bad as smoking. 70% of us are sedentary for 20 hours a day
• The Lancet: If you sit 11 hours or more in a day, you have a 40% increased risk of death in the next 3 years as compared to people who sit 4 hours or less
• Standing for around 2 hours a day will improve blood sugar and cholesterol

Something as innocent as sitting down is actually doing irreparable damage to your health. Believe it or not, sitting is the modern health equivalent of smoking. A study published in medical journal The Lancet found that if you sit 11 hours or more in a day, you have a 40% increased risk of death in the next 3 years as compared to people who sit 4 hours or less!

We sit more than ever today. According to the study, 70% of us are off our feet, either seated or lying down, for an astonishing 20 hours a day. We’re watching more TV than ever, sitting in offices, sitting in cars and then sitting down for meals. And yet we kid ourselves that we lead busy, active lives.

And the scary part is, research shows just as exercise does not necessarily counteract the effects of smoking, it doesn’t counteract the negative effects of too much sitting.

So just how long do you need to spend standing up to see the health benefits?