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"6 Dangers of a Sedentary Lifestyle 1. Your Muscles Become Weaker

When you don’t use your muscles, they stop wanting to do their job. It’s simple.

Sitting puts you in a position where you don’t need to actively engage important muscle groups like your glutes and quads. This is exacerbated if you have the tendency to slouch, which means that you also aren’t engaging your core — the group of muscles largely responsible for helping you sit up straight.

Reduced use of these muscles leads to atrophy, and then you’re dealing with another problem entirely.

This is one of the many benefits of standing desks. When you spend more time standing (with correct posture, of course), your muscles have no choice but to engage to help keep you upright.

2. Tight Muscles Leads to Compromised Mobility

Imagine, for a moment, what your muscles and skeleton look like when you sit. Your quads/femurs are at a 90-degree angle to your core. This means that your hip flexors tighten since they’re in a shortened position.

When your hip flexors tighten, your lower back beings to arch and you stick your bottom out, leading to the dreaded anterior pelvic tilt.

If you’re slouching, with your shoulders slumped forward, your pectoral muscles shorten, similar to what your hip flexors are doing.

Now, guess what happens when you try to do kipping pull-ups with a body like this? Or throw a barbell overhead? Guess what happens when you try to simply bring the groceries in?

This sedentary lifestyle has led to severely compromised mobility. And poor mobility is one of the main causes of injury. With such a shaky, unreliable foundation, you’re in the perfect position to suffer from anything from annoying strains to full-blown injuries.

3. Your Mental Health Takes a Hit

It’s not just your body that takes a beating from a sedentary lifestyle; your mental health does, too.

Some research suggests that sitting for more than six hours a day in the workplace can increase your risk of mental health problems like anxiety and depression, compared to people who sit for three hours or less a day.

Other research from University College London echoes similar sentiments, finding that in adolescents, sedentary behavior is associated with increased risks of depressive symptoms.

It doesn’t start and end with depression and anxiety. These can lead to a whole host of other issues, like reduced productivity and motivation, trouble sleeping, and hormonal imbalances.

We’re not telling you to get up in the middle of the workday and run a marathon. Remember that it can be as simple as walking a lap around the office, pacing the sidewalk outside for a few minutes, or walking to your coworker’s office instead of calling or emailing them."

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