Yahoo News Worried about the harmful effects of sitting? Endurance training could help
According to new research in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, regular endurance training may counteract the harmful effects of sitting for long periods of time.
This is because endurance training improves endothelial function—or how well the membrane of cells lining the heart and blood vessels work to pump blood to your heart.
At this point, the detrimental effects of sitting are well documented—from potentially increasing obesity to shortening your life—but new research in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise suggests there may be a hack if you do sit regularly: Endurance training.
In the study, 10 male collegiate cyclists and nine men with no endurance training participated in multiple exercise tests on a cycle ergometer and were tested for diameter and blood flow of the popliteal artery—a major artery that runs the length of each leg. Participants were measured twice, once after everyday activity and again after three hours of sitting.
The popliteal artery blood flow was reduced in both groups during the sitting period, but the reduction was most significant in those who were untrained. This could likely have an effect on endothelial function—how well the membrane of cells lining the heart and blood vessels work to pump blood to your heart.
'Prolonged sitting leads to lower blood flow to the legs, which induces reduction of nitric oxide production in the vasculature,' lead author Takuma Morishima, Ph.D., assistant professor at the Sports Research Center at Hosei University in Tokyo, told Runner’s World.
He said that nitric oxide—which is produced by your cells, and increases blood flow and lowers blood pressure—plays an important role in regulation of vascular health, so seeing a reduction has a direct effect on blood vessels throughout the body, and especially to the heart.
This isn’t the first study to make the connection between sitting and poor endothelial function—previous research suggests it may be related to prolonged leg bending, since similar results were seen with people lying down but having one leg bent. But this study is unique in suggesting the effect could be prevented with more endurance training.
'This type of training is well known to improve endothelial function,' said Morishima. 'Although this is because of several physiological factors, an increase in nitric oxide synthesis and bioavailability appears to be a mechanism by which endurance training enhances this function.'
In other words, when you train regularly, your body learns to make nitric oxide more available, most likely as a way to keep your cardiovascular system efficient. When you sit for a while and end up with less nitric oxide, the training you’ve done can take that smaller amount and make it more available throughout the body.
So, in a way, training doesn’t just improve the way you move—it also prevents some of the harms that can crop up from sitting.
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