In 2012 it was rumored that a Taiwanese teen died after gaming for 40 consecutive hours. Death by "Diablo 3"? As it turns out, the tabloids may have gotten one thing right about that story -- apparently when you sit for extended periods of time, the Grim Reaper sits beside you.
2012年有传闻称台湾一位青少年在连续打了40个小时的网络游戏《暗黑破坏神III》后猝死。少年是否真的死于网游,我们无从得知,但有一点是显而易见的,长时间保持坐姿会损害我们的健康,死神也会离你越来越近。
When you indulge in just 30 minutes of TV watching -- not even close to 40 hours at a time -- you burn about one calorie per minute (that's the estimate for a person weighing 155 pounds) -- and that's not much; in comparison it's only about a third of the calories that would be used if that time were spent walking, and pretty close to the amount burned during a 30-minute nap (about 23 calories). While the amount of calories burned may seem pretty similar between the two activities, sleep is important for good health and memory, and sitting, well, as it turns out it may be hurting you.
如果坐着看电视30分钟,一个体重155磅的成年人大约每分钟消耗1卡路里的热量,相当于走路所消耗热量的三分之一,小睡30分钟大约消耗23卡路里,与看电视消耗的热量相近。但是,睡觉有助于人体健康和增强记忆力,坐着却会损害人体健康。
Think about how often you sit during the day; at the desk at the office, in meetings, in class, at home in front of the TV or game console -- and don't forget about all the time spent sitting in your car or during your daily commute. All those hours add up, and in recent years it's estimated we spend nearly eight hours sitting every day on average -- and some research suggests we actually may be sitting as much as 15 hours every day. Considering we need about eight hours of sleep every night, that leaves some of us with only about an hour on our feet. Excessive sitting, more than two hours a day, is referred to as 'sitting disease' among health professionals, and is associated with some major -- and perhaps surprising -- health problems, as well as an overall shorter life expectancy.
回想一下,每天我们有多少时间是坐在书桌旁、办公室、会议室、教室、在家里看电视玩游戏,再算上在车里或是其它交通工具上坐着的时间。据估计,把近几年所有这些时间累积起来,平均每天有8小时是坐着的,还有研究显示,实际上我们每天坐着的时间长达15个小时。如果每天睡觉8小时,就只剩下1小时是站立的。专家认为,每天保持坐姿超过2个小时就是“久坐症”,这可能引发一些严重的健康问题,甚至会折寿。
10.It's Ruining Your Posture
10.健康隐患
Poor posture is a headache -- literally. And a shoulder ache. And a neck ache. And we can't overlook the back problems associated with a sedentary lifestyle. You might be sitting too much, and during all the time spent seated, you might be sitting the wrong way. Sitting improperly not only causes tight muscles and muscle pain, it also increases your risk of developing an inflexible spine and herniated lumbar disks, as well as conditions such as kyphosis, which is a rounded or hunched upper back, and lordosis, which is a swayback.
毫不夸张地说,不良坐姿会引起头痛、肩膀和脖子酸痛。我们要重视久坐引起的各种背部问题。你可能所有的时间都在坐着,或者坐姿错误。错误的坐姿不仅会使肌肉长期处于紧张状态导致酸痛,还会增加罹患脊椎僵硬和腰椎间盘疾病、驼背和脊柱前弯症的风险。
So if slouching and slumping don't meet the gold standard of sitting, what does? Good posture means your body is well-aligned, and well-aligned means your weight is evenly distributed, your shoulders are aligned over your hips, hips over knees -- you get the idea. It's pretty much the opposite of slumping over your desk.
低头和趴在桌子上的坐姿都达不到黄金坐姿的标准,那么什么样的才是达标的坐姿呢?身体平衡,体重分布均匀,臀部均衡承受背部及肩膀的重量,膝盖均衡承受臀部的重量。这与趴在桌子上的情况完全相反。
9.肌肉萎缩
When you sit more frequently than you exercise, your muscles weaken – and quickly. A sedentary lifestyle causes what's called disuse atrophy (that's opposed to muscle atrophy due to neurogenic causes, such as muscular dystrophy). Basically, that means when you don't use your muscles you lose your muscles. Muscle fibers lose their flexibility and become stiff, they lose bulk and mass, and they gain fat storage instead of turning those fats into muscle energy.
当你经常性坐着不运动,肌肉就会迅速退化。久坐会引起废用性肌萎缩(这不同于由于神经引起的肌肉萎缩,比如肌肉营养不良)。肌肉得不到锻炼基本上就会导致肌肉退化。肌肉纤维灵活性降低,变得僵硬,重量和体积都会减少,同时脂肪会在体内存积起来,无法转换为肌肉。
Additionally, when you're in a sitting position you're basically training your muscles to be better-suited for sitting. Your glutes and your leg muscles, for example, shorten compared to if you spent similar time standing -- and that means aches, pains and balance issues. Sitting weakens the muscles you use for posture and the abdominal, pelvic and spinal muscle groups, as well.
另外,当你坐着的时候,肌肉也会向更适合坐姿的方向发展。比如同样的时间内,坐着时臀部和腿部的肌肉要比站立时的肌肉更短,这也就意味着肌肉会出现酸痛和平衡问题。久坐会使肌肉弱化,尤其是腹部、骨盆和脊柱的肌肉群。
8.伤害骨骼
As many as half of adult Americans are affected by bone loss. Ten million live with osteoporosis, and even more -- about 43 million more -- have lost enough bone mass that they're at a high risk of developing osteoporosis, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation. To strengthen your bones and prevent osteoporosis, you need to stand up. Bones need to support your weight -- or some weight -- regularly in order to stay strong; otherwise they lose their density and become brittle and weak.
几乎近一半的美国成年人都会骨质流失。根据美国国家骨质疏松症基金会(the National Osteoporosis Foundation,NOF)的数据显示,美国有一千万人患有骨质疏松,更严重的是,四千三百多万人流失了应需的骨量,他们都是患骨质疏松的高发人群。为了强健骨骼并预防骨质疏松,你需要站起来了!骨头需要支撑全部或是部分的体重来保持强壮,否则会丧失密度而变得脆弱。
Daily walking will help you make strides against osteoporosis, as well as both weight-bearing exercises and resistance training. Exercises that put a little pressure on those bones keep bone loss at bay (and it'll also build muscles and keep you flexible, too).
每天散步、进行负重运动或抗阻力训练可以帮助你远离骨质疏松。锻炼对骨骼施加一定的压力,以此来防止骨质流失(锻炼也可以强健肌肉,让你的身体更加灵活)。