Expert reveals exact number of hours you can sit a day without harming your health

Let's be honest, much of adult life today revolves around work, which for most people means, spending long hours in front of screens and staying stationary while seated on chairs.

It has been established that work-related stress has serious impact on our health. But seems like it also impacts our physical health. While scientists have come up with the maximum number of hours you should work, here's what a chiropractor has to say about the maximum number of hours you should spend sitting down.

If you weren't aware of the dangers of sitting down for too long, just ask this guy who had to be rushed to the emergency room after sitting too long!

Maximum number of hours you should sit

As reported by Newsweek, a survey in the USA revealed that the average person there spends a staggering 9.5 hours sitting down! If that sounds extremely unhealthy to you, that's because it is!

The report included advice from Tom Oddo, a New York-based chiropractor who says that he advises his patients to sit for a maximum of fours hours through the course of a workday.

He is quoted as follows by Newsweek,

I usually tell patients to sit for less than four hours during their workday because that is likely the most sedentary time in their day.

The long and short of it is this: if you sit a ton, your body will hurt. But if you move for three to four hours a day on top of all that sitting, you probably won't die from a sitting disease. Although that strategy doesn't leave a lot of time for sleep.

Read more:

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⋙ Stop feeling guilty, science is telling you that you should nap at work!

Why is sitting too much bad for health?

As the chiropractor states, sitting in itself is not bad for the body, and it is not a disease. However, sitting too much can cause a spectrum of musculoskeletal issues and medical problems.

The main culprit that is harmful for health, is staying sedentary! Spending too much time without physical movement or any activity has been connected to obesity, cardiovascular issues like heart disease, high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol levels, as well as type 2 diabetes.

Along with this, spending a huge amount of time sitting in a bad posture puts strain on your body, and can leave you with lasting physical problems.

Read more:

⋙ People pleasing: Stop doing these ‘nice' things at work

Sources used:

Newsweek: 'You Shouldn't Sit for More Than 4 Hours per Day, According to Chiropractor'