Overcoming the Sedentary Lifestyle Epidemic

The other day I was watching a movie with my wife and one of the characters was shouting at another character that he killed their friend in a previous scene. 

The accused character responded, "no, sitting on his [bottom dollar] for 12 hours a day killed him!"

Now, that made me think and reminded me of an article I wrote last year. I figure this is an important topic, so I'm writing about it again.

The irony is that during this scene, my wife and I were firmly participating in a "Lazy Sunday," which is also okay occasionally. It's kind of what Sundays are for, even. 

I've been warning against spending too much time sitting or laying down for years. For example, if you have a desk job, and therefore sit all day at work, it would behoove you to spend a substantial amount of time NOT sitting during the hours after work. 

There are plenty of ways to combat this. Having worked in gyms for the past 10+ years I see many people fight the demons of sedentary jobs by going to the gym to lift and do cardio immediately after work. That's a good idea. 

However, many of these folks spend their hour or so in the gym sitting on various machines and apparatuses. Worse, they're texting while sitting! So while the muscles may be getting some pump and burn action, the overall positioning and posture is the same as what they do at work, or driving the car – sitting, slumped forward, looking at some screen in front of them. 

I don't like that. I don't like that one bit!

Furthermore, even if you go to the gym for 1 hour after work, 5 days per week, that's still just 1 hour of being physically active against potentially 23 hours of sitting in a car, sitting at a desk, sitting in a car again, sitting/laying on a couch, before returning to lay in the bed. 

Think about that. Sitting totally dominates our lives! Even our exercise equipment is designed to allow us to "take a load off" and sit while simply pushing or pulling against resistance. 

Yikes!

This is why I spend so much time standing on my virtual soap box, shouting into the abyss about why we need to cultivate a fitness lifestyle. Not just a habit of going to the gym. Living in a way where health and fitness are prioritized is more than just a simple gym routine. 

Work exercise into your daily routine. Sprinkle it throughout the day. Yet, also include the heavy, more focused "gym workout" at some point during the day, as well. But please, spend less time on the machines that have you sitting and more time standing, kneeling, lunging, and moving throughout space. I'll provide some examples in a bit. 

Okay, so, how do we combat sitting?

Sitting is a necessary evil, but it's also pretty nice at times. Heck, I'm sitting right now as I type this out. I'm not suggesting you, me, or anybody eliminate sitting. After all, relaxation is good for us. I'm just looking to counter sitting with an appropriate amount of movement, exercise, stretching, and – generally speaking – non-sitting activities. 

Here's how I recommend combatting the evils of sitting without stressing about eliminating our desires to spend time seated. This is a simple strategy to offset sitting that will starve off the negative effects of our sedentary lifestyles.

30 minutes upon waking, do some form of exercise. This could be lifting weights, it could be 5 minutes of stretching, it could be riding a spin bike for 20-30 minutes, it could be a quick calisthenics circuit (squats, lunges, pushups, maybe even pullups?), or it could be a 15-30 minute walk. Just do some form of exercise/movement in the mornings, even if it's very light. 

I, for one, do not like vigorous exercise first thing in the morning and am famously weak as a kitten until 1-2 hours after I wake. So I'm not going to hit the gym, lift weights, or do any sprinting within 30 minutes of waking. 

Stretching, walking, a little jump rope in the garage, or doing some pushups and Hindu squats or lunges is reasonable, though. I can do those things. 

Truth be told, I currently don't do this every single morning, but sometimes I do. I should do it every morning. You might recall in many of my brief logs explaining my vacation morning bodyweight workouts – which usually consist of 2-3 exercises completed EMOM fashion for 10-20 minutes – that I always feel great after a quick calisthenics routine in the morning. Nothing to failure. Nothing to write home about (although, clearly something to write to you all about), but good exercise to get the blood pumping, muscles working, and brain ticking. It feels good, I feel healthy upon completing those quick 10-20 minute circuits, and I'm always energized for the day. 

After these brief morning calisthenic workouts, I seem to consistently jot down in my notes something to the point of, "I should do this every day." Now, when I'm doing these quick calisthenics workouts when I'm out of town, visiting friends or family, I'm not usually doing any other hypertrophy or strength training on those days. In my every day life – where I do strength and hypertrophy training most days of the week – I would probably only need 5-10 minutes of these EMOMs instead of 10-20 minutes. 

So that's one option. 

The other option that is very suitable for my situation and personality is jump rope. Taking 5-10 minutes every morning to jump rope is fun, mediative (for me), and a good excuse to start my day with some fresh air.

A 20-30 minute morning walk is an awesome practice, but it does require waking up 20-30 minutes earlier than usual. Despite that sacrifice, I'd argue there's no better way to start the day.

Okay, I don't want to drag this part out too long. Bottom line: within 30 minutes of waking up, do some form of exercise for anywhere from 5-30 minutes. Just move!

Next, we will cover the biggest obstacle most people will deal with. That is the obstacle of sitting while working all day. Fear not, with a simple 5/60 strategy we can defeat the forces of sitting without adding stress to our day. In fact, I promise what I recommend will actually destress you!

The 5/60 strategy is nothing new around here. I've talked about it in several articles and emails during the last 5 years, but I've now given it the fancy name, "5/60."

Every 60 minutes (1 hour) take 5 minutes (give or take) and do any of the things I recommended earlier.

Here's an 8 hour example:

Hour 1: stand up and do 2 sets of air squats or lunges.

Hour 2: get up and walk for 5 minutes. 

Hour 3: stand up and do a few sets of jumping jacks or jump rope.

Hour 4: take another 5 minute walk

Hour 5: 2 sets of pushups

Hour 6: stand up and stretch for a few minutes 

Hour 7: 2 sets of glute bridges or kettlebell swings

Hour 8: 2 sets of pullups or rows

And that should be the work day for most of you!

"But Benen, I don't have exercise equipment by my work desk!"

Well, that's your first mistake, my friend! I think there's nothing better than seeing a kettlebell, club, or some other simple exercise equipment parked next to somebody's work station. Even a hand gripper would be swell.

With that said, your own body provides everything you need for a quick 5 minute exercise break. Squats, lunges, pushups, like pushups, Hindu pushups, Hindu squats, glute bridge variations, planks, crunches, split squats, invisible jump roping, and mountain climbers are all great exercises for these purposes and require zero additional equipment.

You don't need that much variety. You could just walk or do a couple sets of squats or lunges every hour. The important thing is that you stand up from your seated position, for just a short period of time, every hour. We don't want to be glued to our seats. 

The next step: daily workout. You can do your daily workout any time of day – morning, lunch time, or after work. Most people have more time after work, so I'll assume that schedule for this article's purposes. But understand you can do this workout any time.

I like our "workout" to be a lifting session, 3-5 days per week (if lifting on the weekend works better for you, then do that while adding at least 1 session to the work week). This lifting session doesn't need to be super time consuming, heroic, or even require any equipment more than your bodyweight. But you need to resistance train at least 3 times per week.

I like using 30-40 minute sessions. Below is one sample program I like to use and it seems to be the best combination of fun, sustainable, time efficient, and effective for most people I work with, including myself. 

Feel free to do any program you prefer, and also feel free to switch out exercises I've listed for ones that you prefer or have better access to. Rep ranges are also very flexible, but generally speaking, your reps for most exercises should fall within the 5-15 range. Doing 2-3 sets per exercise works great.

(Warm up with a couple sets of a circuit including abs, calf raises or jump rope, and some sort of glute bridge or clam shell before each session)

Upper Body Session A

Ex 1: incline dumbbell bench press-2-3x6-12

Ex 2: single arm rows-3x6-12

Ex 3: lateral raise variation-2-3x10-15

Ex 4: incline dumbbell curls-2-3x6-12

Ex 5: cable pushdowns or skull crushers-2-3x10-15

Lower Body Session A

Ex 1: Bulgarian split squats or standard split squats-2-3x8-12

Ex 2: single leg RDL-2-3x10-15

Ex 3: box step ups-2-3x10-15

Ex 4: calf raise or hamstring curls or kettlebell swings-2-3x10-15

Upper Body Session B

Ex 1: overhead press variation-2-3x5-10

Ex 2: pullups-3x5-8

Ex 3: pushups or incline dumbbell bench press-3-4 x max if pushups or 2-3x6-12 if bench press

Ex 4: concentration curls-2-3x6-12

Ex 5: cable overhead extensions or dumbbell/kettlebell overhead extensions-2-3x10-15

Lower Body Session B

Ex 1: Bulgarian split squats or standard split squats-2-3x8-12

Ex 2: RDL or weighted single leg glute bridge variation-2-3x10-15 (2-3x15-20 if glute bridge variation)

Ex 3: offset (weight in 1 hand) alternating reverse lunges-2-3x10-15 per leg

Ex 4: calf raise or hamstring curls or kettlebell swings-2-3x10-15

Do that routine, or one of your choosing, 3-5 days per week. It works great and won't take longer than 40 minutes to complete, often taking closer to just 30 minutes.

If you want a more simple, full body program, do the following every other day (3-4 days per week) alternating between session A and session B.

(Warm up with abs, calf raises or jump rope, and some sort of glute bridge or clam shell before each session)

Full Body Session A

Ex 1: overhead press variation-2-3x5-10

Ex 2: Bulgarian split squat or Box Step Ups-2-3x8-12

Ex 3: pullups or lat pulldowns-2-3x5-10

Ex 4: RDL, single leg RDL, or B stance RDL-2-3x10-15

Ex 5: bicep curl-2-3x6-12

Full Body Session B

Ex 1: pushups or incline dumbbell bench press-2-3x6-12 or 2-3 x max pushups 

Ex 2: alternating reverse lunges or standard split squats-2-3x10-15

Ex 3: single arm row variation-2-3x6-12

Ex 4: kettlebell swings-2-3x10-15

Ex 5: tricep extension variation-2-3x10-15

Either after lifting or after work – sometime in the evening – go for a 20-60 minute walk. The length will depend on the day, your schedule, daylight, and preference. But a nice walk does the body and mind a lot of good after a day of work. 

That's it. Sure, it seems like a lot, but really it's just a lot of "stand up for 5 minutes and do something every hour" along with a daily walk and a lifting session about every other day.

You can maintain this schedule on weekends and days off from work, too. I encourage you to do so. 

If you want to dedicate one day per week to going sloth-mode, by all means, do it! (Like I did 2 Sundays ago....although I did still lift, walk the dogs, and sauna that day. But I spent most of the day laying on the couch watching TV). One day per week of laying around won't kill you if you're working in regular movement and strength training every other day of the week.

The bottom line is: sitting is a part of life, but it doesn't have to dominate and ruin our lives! Counter the effects of sitting by regularly taking some brief (5 minutes or so) movement/exercise breaks, committing and remaining disciplined to 3-5 x 30-40 minute resistance training sessions per week, and a daily evening walk. It's really simple. Sure it takes some effort, but the rewards are far greater than the effort and time it takes.

Earn your relaxation! Give your body a reason to sit and don't become one of those statistics of people that die by sitting around too much without exercising.

Hope this provides some applicable advice for you!

I need to adopt the early morning 5-10 minute exercise segment myself, so I look forward to joining you in this war on sitting.