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Can Sitting For Long Prevent Muscle Building, Even If You Go To The Gym?

Here is how prolonged sitting can come in the way of your gym gains!

By Chandana Rao

When you look at your favourite actors on the screen, or when you browse through fashion magazines, you notice that majority of these actors have amazing bodies that are toned, muscular and fit, right?

Well, by now, most of us would know that most celebrities and people who are fit do not just attain their bodies naturally and it requires a lot of discipline, dedication and hard work!

If a person is just slim built, then we could attribute that feature to nature; however, having a toned, muscular body is not something that can happen naturally for any human being and it does require us to put in some effort.

effects of sitting for too long

These days, we see a lot of gyms cropping up everywhere, because more and more people are interested in being more fit and want to have attractive figures.

Surveys have noted that, at least 60% of both men and women, below the age of 40 try to go to the gym and work out, at least thrice a week, especially in the cities.

We can even see a number of older people in the gym, who are health-conscious, coming to work out!

effects of sitting for too long

Apart from helping you gain muscle mass, toning your body and giving you a fit figure, working out can also boost your health to a large extent and prevent a whole array of diseases.

As we know, exercise is a great way to maintain our health and lifting weights at the gym is a great form of exercise.

Now, imagine this. You work hard at the gym every single day, you stick to a strict protein-rich diet that aids muscle growth; however, you do not seem to be gaining much muscle mass!

This can be extremely frustrating, right? Well, if this is happening to you, think of how long you sit, in a day.

Sitting for a long time can hamper gym enabled muscle growth. Find out why and how, in this article.

effects of sitting for too long

What Happens When You Sit For Too Long?
In this modern era, many young people have jobs that require them to be desk-bound for more than 7 hours, straight, with just a few short breaks in between.

We may have come across news that tell us about the ill-effects of prolonged sitting, such as, back ache, headache, neck pain, obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, etc.

Recently, a research institute gathered information on this subject from more than 40 studies conducted and said that sitting for more than 6 hours in a day, without taking a 15-minute break, every hour, can deplete the growth of muscle mass, even if you work out intensely at a gym!

So, basically, sitting for too long can make your efforts at the gym go for a waste!

The researchers said that prolonged sitting can cause a fluctuation in the insulin levels in your body. When this happens, your metabolic rate slows down and you may even start to crave for more food. Both these actions, tend to ruin muscle mass!

So, in conclusion, sitting for too long can come in the way of muscle-growth, even if you work out!

Story first published: Tuesday, July 11, 2017, 15:55 [IST]
Read more about: muscle gym