Sitting in office....can it derail exercise...read on...

ValGogo
ValGogo Posts: 2,168 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
OK, I once read that even if you exercise every day and watch what you eat, having a sedentary job like sitting at a desk in an office for 6 hours a day can derail your efforts and still keep you unhealthy. This is not counting bathroom breaks and going upstairs to the other departments and lunch break.

I don't buy it, but what are your thoughts? It's been on my mind lately.
«13

Replies

  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    It doesn't derail it. It just doesn't help it.
  • LolaKarwowski
    LolaKarwowski Posts: 217 Member
    I'm no expert on this topic, this is just my opinion.

    I think exercising at least a little everyday and having healthy eating habits is better than doing nothing and eating everything in sight. I try to walk around during my lunch break that way I am not literally sitting down for 8 hours a day (I'm a receptionist). Also, having in mind that I just spent most of the day sitting down I try my best not to do the same at home. Even with a workout I try to find something to do to afterwards keep me moving.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    Does not derail it on its own.

    I've worked an office job for 15 years. For the majority first 14.25 years I did very little physical activity/exercise outside of those 40 hours/week. That, in addition to eating too much, derailed my health. Nowadays I still work an office job but I move more in my off hours and I eat a lot better and, as a result, I am much healthier.

    You can't pick just one factor and blame all your bad health on it.
  • ValGogo
    ValGogo Posts: 2,168 Member
    You can't pick just one factor and blame all your bad health on it.

    I'm going to assume "your" is the collective "you" and not me.

    Well I exercise almost every day, and I "lift heavy" three times a week for now. I put in quotes because I'm still newish and don't want anyone to be thinking I'm some heavy lifting expert (yet!). I watch what I eat, I log, I've been a little more serious about the food lately. I'm not sitting on a couch all day expecting osmosis to get my body in shape.

    I was just wondering becasue I read it somewhere and it seemed like one of those articles geared to make people who are actually working to get in shape feel like they are wasting their time.

    I hate articles like that. Well, I'm not saying they are purposely trying to talk us out of exercising but it sure doesn't feel like they are promoting us to keep it up.

    Regardless, I'm doing my part and soon will be able to post pics.
  • ValGogo
    ValGogo Posts: 2,168 Member
    I'm no expert on this topic, this is just my opinion.

    I think exercising at least a little everyday and having healthy eating habits is better than doing nothing and eating everything in sight. I try to walk around during my lunch break that way I am not literally sitting down for 8 hours a day (I'm a receptionist). Also, having in mind that I just spent most of the day sitting down I try my best not to do the same at home. Even with a workout I try to find something to do to afterwards keep me moving.

    Yeah, that's what I think too.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    You can't pick just one factor and blame all your bad health on it.

    I'm going to assume "your" is the collective "you" and not me.

    Your assumption is correct.
  • cdahl383
    cdahl383 Posts: 726 Member
    No. As long as you exercise regularly and eat healthy and maintain your portions you'll be fine. I've had an office job for 10 years now and as long as I eat relatively healthy, watch my portions, and exercise regularly my weight stays at a healthy level and I feel great.
  • shadowofender
    shadowofender Posts: 786 Member
    I work an office job. Yeah it's sedentary but so are a lot of jobs. And if that were really the case, there would be no fit people in these kinds of jobs. Yes, it can make it harder. Because you're sitting, and maybe you can eat at your desk, and blah blah blah but that's life.
  • Eoghann
    Eoghann Posts: 130 Member
    As I understand it, the theory is more that you can't make up for a day's worth of inactivity purely with 30 minutes of heavy activity in the evening.

    It would be better if you were able to achieve regular periods of light to moderate activity throughout the day. Which is why I, for example, take a walking break every hour during which I walk round the office and then up and down 5 flights of stairs.

    It's not intense activity, but it is regular activity.
  • empireman85
    empireman85 Posts: 114 Member
    Having recently started with an UP I've learned just how sedentary I actually have been. Now each break I take a little walk even if I have to make circles around the warehouse. Makes a HUGE difference in total steps.
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
    You can't pick just one factor and blame all your bad health on it.

    I'm going to assume "your" is the collective "you" and not me.

    Well I exercise almost every day, and I "lift heavy" three times a week for now. I put in quotes because I'm still newish and don't want anyone to be thinking I'm some heavy lifting expert (yet!). I watch what I eat, I log, I've been a little more serious about the food lately. I'm not sitting on a couch all day expecting osmosis to get my body in shape.

    I was just wondering becasue I read it somewhere and it seemed like one of those articles geared to make people who are actually working to get in shape feel like they are wasting their time.

    I hate articles like that. Well, I'm not saying they are purposely trying to talk us out of exercising but it sure doesn't feel like they are promoting us to keep it up.

    Regardless, I'm doing my part and soon will be able to post pics.

    What is a lifting heavy expert?
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    I read once that jesus rode a raptor to war against the egyptians.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    It's a little bit of scaremongering but we did evolve to be physically active...

    http://www.runnersworld.com/health/sitting-is-the-new-smoking-even-for-runners

    The good news is :
    Scared straight out of your chair? Good. Because the remedy is as simple as standing up and taking activity breaks. Stuart McGill, Ph.D., director of the Spine Biomechanics Laboratory at the University of Waterloo says that interrupting your sedentary time as often as possible and making frequent posture changes is important. "Even breaks as short as one minute can improve your health," he says.

    So, getting up from your desk and moving around frequently during the day and going for a lunch time walk (in addition to your regular activities) should go a long way to mitigating the risk.
  • BigT555
    BigT555 Posts: 2,067 Member
    i actually think its the opposite, im doing a co-op for school in an office right now and the last thing i want to do when i get home is sit down for another 5 hours. conversely when i worked construction where i was constantly on my feet lifting heavy stuff that was exactly what i wanted to do when i got home. but i think that what you read may have been referring to the fact that office jobs involve little physical activity, so you have to use your own personal time to get out and get moving, where working something like construction you dont have much of a choice, if you try to sit on your *kitten* all day you'll end up getting canned
  • Veil5577
    Veil5577 Posts: 868 Member
    I have two sitting jobs so I'm sitting for a total of 13 hours a day 4 days a week. The rest of the days I do the best I can to get a walk in or some other exercise.
  • Alluminati
    Alluminati Posts: 6,208 Member
    As I understand it, the theory is more that you can't make up for a day's worth of inactivity purely with 30 minutes of heavy activity in the evening.

    It would be better if you were able to achieve regular periods of light to moderate activity throughout the day. Which is why I, for example, take a walking break every hour during which I walk round the office and then up and down 5 flights of stairs.

    It's not intense activity, but it is regular activity.

    But why would this be, does anyone have a logical explanation?
    If timing of calorie intake doesn't matter, then why would timing of calorie expenditure matter? Wouldn't it be as long as you are expending X amount of calories per day?
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
    As I understand it, the theory is more that you can't make up for a day's worth of inactivity purely with 30 minutes of heavy activity in the evening.

    It would be better if you were able to achieve regular periods of light to moderate activity throughout the day. Which is why I, for example, take a walking break every hour during which I walk round the office and then up and down 5 flights of stairs.

    It's not intense activity, but it is regular activity.

    But why would this be, does anyone have a logical explanation?
    If timing of calorie intake doesn't matter, then why would timing of calorie expenditure matter? Wouldn't it be as long as you are expending X amount of calories per day?

    I read place that you burn more calories doing 2 15 minute walks as oppose to 1 30 minute walk and the same speed. I will try to find it.
  • bugaboo_sue
    bugaboo_sue Posts: 552 Member
    As I understand it, the theory is more that you can't make up for a day's worth of inactivity purely with 30 minutes of heavy activity in the evening.

    It would be better if you were able to achieve regular periods of light to moderate activity throughout the day. Which is why I, for example, take a walking break every hour during which I walk round the office and then up and down 5 flights of stairs.

    It's not intense activity, but it is regular activity.

    But why would this be, does anyone have a logical explanation?
    If timing of calorie intake doesn't matter, then why would timing of calorie expenditure matter? Wouldn't it be as long as you are expending X amount of calories per day?

    My reasoning for doing something like that would be for the simple reason of wanting to get up and away from my desk for a while.
  • BlueBombers
    BlueBombers Posts: 4,064 Member
    I've thought the same as I sit on my azz 8 hours a day as well! That being said I try to get up and walk around often and go for walks on my two coffee breaks as well as my lunch break.

    Edit: I find I don't feel as sluggish and don't hit that mid-afternoon wall when I go for my walk breaks.
  • Leadfoot_Lewis
    Leadfoot_Lewis Posts: 1,623 Member
    No. As long as you exercise regularly and eat healthy and maintain your portions you'll be fine. I've had an office job for 10 years now and as long as I eat relatively healthy, watch my portions, and exercise regularly my weight stays at a healthy level and I feel great.

    ^I agree w/this.
  • murphy612
    murphy612 Posts: 734 Member
    OK, I once read that even if you exercise every day and watch what you eat, having a sedentary job like sitting at a desk in an office for 6 hours a day can derail your efforts and still keep you unhealthy. This is not counting bathroom breaks and going upstairs to the other departments and lunch break.

    I don't buy it, but what are your thoughts? It's been on my mind lately.

    Wish you had shared the article, maybe with it I could convince my boss to put some exercise equipment in my cube :-)
  • ValGogo
    ValGogo Posts: 2,168 Member
    You can't pick just one factor and blame all your bad health on it.

    I'm going to assume "your" is the collective "you" and not me.

    Your assumption is correct.
    Thank you darling! :wink:
  • murphy612
    murphy612 Posts: 734 Member
    I've thought the same as I sit on my azz 8 hours a day as well! That being said I try to get up and walk around often and go for walks on my two coffee breaks as well as my lunch break.

    Edit: I find I don't feel as sluggish and don't hit that mid-afternoon wall when I go for my walk breaks.

    I'm the same, I'm also calmer and less stressed the more walk breaks I can take.
  • ValGogo
    ValGogo Posts: 2,168 Member
    You can't pick just one factor and blame all your bad health on it.

    I'm going to assume "your" is the collective "you" and not me.

    Well I exercise almost every day, and I "lift heavy" three times a week for now. I put in quotes because I'm still newish and don't want anyone to be thinking I'm some heavy lifting expert (yet!). I watch what I eat, I log, I've been a little more serious about the food lately. I'm not sitting on a couch all day expecting osmosis to get my body in shape.

    I was just wondering becasue I read it somewhere and it seemed like one of those articles geared to make people who are actually working to get in shape feel like they are wasting their time.

    I hate articles like that. Well, I'm not saying they are purposely trying to talk us out of exercising but it sure doesn't feel like they are promoting us to keep it up.

    Regardless, I'm doing my part and soon will be able to post pics.

    What is a lifting heavy expert?

    And here it comes....

    It's someone who has been lifing heavy for more than a few months, someone who has a great idea of what they want in thier body goals, someone who has more experience than I, someone who has gone through different phases of loading and deloading, and changing up of reps vs weight, etc, ad nauseam. And no, there are no PhD's in lifting.
  • ValGogo
    ValGogo Posts: 2,168 Member
    I read once that jesus rode a raptor to war against the egyptians.

    I love Raptors, especially Peregrine Falcons.
  • ValGogo
    ValGogo Posts: 2,168 Member
    I've thought the same as I sit on my azz 8 hours a day as well! That being said I try to get up and walk around often and go for walks on my two coffee breaks as well as my lunch break.

    Edit: I find I don't feel as sluggish and don't hit that mid-afternoon wall when I go for my walk breaks.

    Thank you Blue, good answer.
  • ValGogo
    ValGogo Posts: 2,168 Member
    OK, I once read that even if you exercise every day and watch what you eat, having a sedentary job like sitting at a desk in an office for 6 hours a day can derail your efforts and still keep you unhealthy. This is not counting bathroom breaks and going upstairs to the other departments and lunch break.

    I don't buy it, but what are your thoughts? It's been on my mind lately.

    Wish you had shared the article, maybe with it I could convince my boss to put some exercise equipment in my cube :-)

    Yo sometimes I'm tempted to drop and do a 60 minute plank. I have to control myself.

    Duh, I mean 60 second...hahahaha
  • asdelmonte
    asdelmonte Posts: 171 Member
    OK, I once read that even if you exercise every day and watch what you eat, having a sedentary job like sitting at a desk in an office for 6 hours a day can derail your efforts and still keep you unhealthy. This is not counting bathroom breaks and going upstairs to the other departments and lunch break.

    I don't buy it, but what are your thoughts? It's been on my mind lately.

    Wish you had shared the article, maybe with it I could convince my boss to put some exercise equipment in my cube :-)

    You could ask about a standing desk. One of my coworkers built a platform for his monitor so he can stand while working. I would love that, but then I would have to wear comfortable shoes to work instead of heals.
  • Eoghann
    Eoghann Posts: 130 Member
    As I understand it, the theory is more that you can't make up for a day's worth of inactivity purely with 30 minutes of heavy activity in the evening.

    It would be better if you were able to achieve regular periods of light to moderate activity throughout the day. Which is why I, for example, take a walking break every hour during which I walk round the office and then up and down 5 flights of stairs.

    It's not intense activity, but it is regular activity.

    But why would this be, does anyone have a logical explanation?
    If timing of calorie intake doesn't matter, then why would timing of calorie expenditure matter? Wouldn't it be as long as you are expending X amount of calories per day?


    From a weight loss perspective it won't matter a damn. If your aim is simply weight loss, then you're good. If your aim is 200 pushups or bench pressing a certain amount, or running a mile in 4 minutes... you're good.

    But fitness and health (which are a horribly vague terms) encompass a variety of other things. It's hard to measure them by a single metric.

    While the regular moderate activity doesn't burn a huge number of calories it does mean you are "active" (another horribly vague term) for a far greater amount of time than the usually 30-60 minutes of intense exercise that people do. And the theory seems to be gaining ground that being active matters and that sitting for prolonged periods... Like say 4 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the afternoon has negative impacts on your health.
  • ValGogo
    ValGogo Posts: 2,168 Member
    OK, I once read that even if you exercise every day and watch what you eat, having a sedentary job like sitting at a desk in an office for 6 hours a day can derail your efforts and still keep you unhealthy. This is not counting bathroom breaks and going upstairs to the other departments and lunch break.

    I don't buy it, but what are your thoughts? It's been on my mind lately.

    Wish you had shared the article, maybe with it I could convince my boss to put some exercise equipment in my cube :-)

    You could ask about a standing desk. One of my coworkers built a platform for his monitor so he can stand while working. I would love that, but then I would have to wear comfortable shoes to work instead of heals.

    YEAH ME TOO!!! But they wouldnt' do that. Sometimes I stand up and type.

Categories