Is Your Desk Chair Shortening Your Life?
By Michael Roizen, M.D., and Mehmet Oz, M.D. Your desk chair might be a mortal enemy. Same with the driver's seat or your La-Z-Boy. It's not so much the size or shape of your perch -- it's all about how long you sit on it.
When researchers looked at how much sitting people did over the course of 12 years, they found that people whose butts met chairs for most of the time, most of their days, died sooner and with more pain than people who moved around. Even if they also exercised for 30 minutes every day, chair dwellers couldn't bring their mortality rate down to the level of someone who sat for only a quarter of the day.
You can, however, unseat this killer! If you live at your desk, at least get up and walk around frequently. It also keeps your head clear, and you never know what you'll see or learn (about office gossip or actual work: Innovations may pop into your head as you see your colleagues).
And keep working out. Exercise does get you ahead: Among people who sat for the same percentage of time each day, active people (read: exercisers) lived longer and with less disability than inactive ones. Don't just bump up how long you're at the gym, also aim to be more active when you're not in there. Moving from dining-room chair to Barcalounger or doing tortilla-chip curls (moving your hand from chip bowl to your mouth) doesn't count. We're talking gardening, walking the dog or playing freeze tag with your kids (or someone else's). The equation is simple: Watch less, play more, live more.
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The YOU Docs, Mehmet Oz and Mike Roizen, are authors of "YOU: The Owner's Manual." Want more? See "The Dr. Oz Show" on TV (check local listings). To submit questions, go to www.RealAge.com. (c) 2009 Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
Read more about By Michael Roizen, M.D., and Mehmet Oz, M.D. at ArcaMax.com.
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