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Our bodies are designed to be physically active throughout the day in order to operate at its optimal level. By this, it does not mean that you require half an hour to 60 minutes of gym activity, but rather daily movement that takes place throughout the day when you are awake.

Continued research points out to the fact that lack of such activity, in the form of being seated for long periods of time is extremely harmful to health and can impact longevity in the long run.

According to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, research indicates that the longer an individual spends sitting fusion beauty, shorter is his lifespan.

The study concluded that people who sat for more than eight hours a day are at risk of developing heart disorders than those who are seated for less than five hours each day.

Another body of thought suggests that the practice of sitting in itself is a risk factor for various lifestyle disorders and poor health, even if the individual exercises regularly for an hour each day.

For instance, one particular research indicated that cutting down the overall time an individual spends sitting to less than two hours every day could actually heighten his life expectancy by more than three years.

Research published in ‘Diabetologia’ examined over 50 studies in totality that comprised over 700,000 people and discovered that those who were seated for the longest amount of time were more likely to develop heart disorders and diabetes than those who sat for the least amount of time during the day.

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It is evident that exercise is extremely significant for good health and longevity, but even by exercise, it may not be possible to counter act the impairment caused by long hours of being seated that is becoming extremely common especially among sedentary workers.

One particular study conducted in 2010 highlighted much of the evidence connecting poor metabolic health and heart disorders to being seated for more than five hours each day, revealing how the total amount of time of being seated is a strong co-relation with an elevated risk of heart disorders, chronic health conditions and Type II diabetes.

Although there is nothing fundamentally wrong with being seated, but sitting for a number of hours without changing one’s position or without any active movement can bring about health problems.

According to researchers at the Life Science Division in NASA, human bodies are designed to move about in various positions such as squatting, kneeling and other activities. Uninterrupted seating is extremely bad for human beings as we are not designed to sit continuously.

It is important to interrupt your sitting position every 10 minutes, especially if your job or professional setting requires you to be seated for a long period of time. Standing up around 40 times during the day can help in counteracting the cardiovascular health disorders connected to excessive seating.

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According to the researchers at NASA it was seen that standing up three times in an hour was considered to be far more effective in positively affecting cardiovascular and metabolic changes than 15 minutes on the treadmill.

In addition, they also concluded that getting up and sitting down repeatedly for 30 minutes does not bring about the same effect as getting up once, 30 times a day during the entire day. In order to reap the benefits of cardiovascular and metabolic changes, the activity of sitting down and standing must be spread all day long rather than concentrated at a particular time. Don’t forget to get yourself the most comfortable pair of shoes for standing all day.

It is not enough to hit the gym a few times a week for merely an hour each day, to override chronic continuous sitting. It is important to ensure that you are employed in some form of constant non-exercise movement throughout the day, as being seated for more than three hours at a stretch in itself becomes an independent risk factor. Ensure that you get up at periodic intervals, about 40 times spread throughout the day as much as you can.

If possible, use an exercise ball instead of a chair, as the dynamic motion of the ball causes you to make small changes in your posture that can act as microgravity movements.

For the rest of the day, you might want to add an hour of scheduled exercise in order to keep the complete benefits connected to exercise, but it is important that during the non-exercise hours of the day you are making some kind of movement in order to keep your body tuned towards good health.