说好的幸福呢:你可能整天在做的最危险的事情

在《男士健康》杂志编辑组，我们工作时经常站着。事实上，一些工作人员甚至连办公椅都没有。而是，在写稿、编辑、回电子邮件（很多很多邮件）时，都是站在电脑前的。一天都晚（都站着），为什么呢？

It all started last summer, when Assistant Editor Maria Masters came across a shocking study in the Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (one of dozens of research journals we comb each month as we put together the magazine). Scientists at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana analyzed the lifestyles of more than 17,000 men and women over about 13 years, and found that people who sit for most of the day are 54 percent more likely to die of heart attacks.

这一切都源于去年夏天，当助理编辑玛丽亚·玛司特斯在《运动与训练》杂志（是当我们每月出杂志时，要查阅的许多研究期刊之一）的“医学与科学”栏目上看到一个令人震惊的研究报告。在路易斯安娜州的彭宁顿生物医学研究中心的科学家在长达约13年的时间里，对超过17,000个男人和女人的生活方式进行了研究，他们发现，一天中大部分时间坐着的人（比一般人）死于心脏病的可能性高出了54%。

That’s right—I said 54 percent! 

没错，我说的是54%。

Masters immediately called the lead researcher at Pennington, a professor named Peter Katzmarzyk. Turns out, this wasn’t the first study to link sitting and heart disease. Similar research actually dates back to 1953, when British researchers found that (sitting) bus drivers were twice as likely to die of heart attacks as (standing) trolley operators.

玛司特斯立即给一名叫做彼得.凯茨玛德扎克的教授，即在彭宁顿的研究负责人打了电话，结果得知，这不是第一份将静坐与心脏病联系到一起的报告。类似研究实际上可以回溯至1953年，当英国的研究人员发现，公交车司机（坐着）死于心脏病的可能性是电车操作员（站着）的两倍时。

Here’s the most surprising part: “We see it in people who smoke and people who don’t,” Katzmarzyk told Masters. “We see it in people who are regular exercisers and those who aren’t. Sitting is an independent risk factor.”

这里是最令人吃惊的部分：“不管是吸烟人群还是不吸烟的人群中，我们都一样见到这种现象，” 凯茨玛德扎克告诉玛司特斯，“不管是经常锻炼人群，还是不经常锻炼人群中，都能一样见到这种现象，（所以）静坐是一种独立的风险因素。”

In other words, it doesn’t matter how much you exercise or how well you eat. If you sit most of the day, your risk of leaving this world clutching your chest—whether you’re a man or women—as much as doubles. 

换句话说，不管你做多少运动，或者不管你吃得有多好，都无济于事。如果你一天中的大部分时候都坐着，那么，不管你是男是女，会紧捂着胸口离开这个世界的风险就倍增。1

This raised a rather obvious question: Why? Truth is, the researchers aren’t sure. But Marc Hamilton, Ph.D., one of Katzmarkzyk’s colleagues, suspects it has to do with an enzyme called lipoprotein lipase (LPL), which breaks down fat in the bloodstream and turns it into energy. Hamilton found that standing rats have ten times more of the stuff coursing through their bodies than laying rats. It doesn’t matter how fit the rats are; when they leave their feet, their LPL levels plummet. Hamilton believes the same happens in humans.

这就产生了一个相当明显的问题：为什么？ 事实是，研究人员还不能确定。但是，凯茨玛德扎克的一个同事，马克.汉密尔顿博士怀疑，与一种叫脂蛋白脂肪酶（LPL）的酶有关，它能分解血管内的脂肪，将之转化为能量。.汉密尔顿发现站立的老鼠比躺着的老鼠体内的这种物质高出十倍。不管该老鼠的身体多么健康，一旦脱离了站立状态，其LPL水平直线下降。汉密尔顿认为在人类身上也一样。

Still sitting? Then you should know that your office chair also: 

还坐着？那你应该知道办公椅还可以导致：

1. Screws up your posture. The fascia, the tissue that connects individual muscles into a full-body network, begins to set when you stay in one position for too long, says Men’s Health advisor Bill Hartman, P.T., C.S.C.S., a physical therapist in Indianapolis. If you’re hunched over a keyboard all day, this eventually becomes your normal posture.

1 毁掉(优美)体态。当人保持某种姿势太长时间后，将个别肌块连接至人体运动体系的韧带、组织开始僵化，印第安纳波利斯地区的一个物理理疗师，《男士健康》杂志的健康顾问，体能训练师、注册肌力与体能训练专家比尔.哈特曼这样说。如果你一天到晚蜷身操作键盘，最后这个会变成你的常态。

2. Makes you fatter. This happens for two reasons. First, you burn 60 more calories an hour when standing versus sitting. But more importantly, says Hartman, when you spend too much time sitting, your largest muscle group—the glutes (a.k.a. your butt)—become lazy and quit firing. This is called gluteal amnesia. And it means you burn fewer calories.

2 让人变胖。由两个原因造成。首先，站立比坐着一小时会多燃烧60卡里路。但更重要的是，哈德曼说，当人坐的时间太长时，其最大的肌群——臀大肌（也就是屁股）会变懒，停止燃烧热量。这个症状叫臀肌失忆症。这意味着燃烧更少的热量。

3. Causes lower back pain. Weak glutes push your pelvis forward, putting stress on the spine, says Hartman. Here’s the other unseemly thing that happens when your pelvis tilts forward: Your belly protrudes, making you look 5 months pregnant. 

3 导致下背痛 变弱的臀肌会推动骨盆向前，对脊柱施加压力，哈德曼说。下面是骨盆前倾时会产生另一个负面情况：肚子突出，使人看起来有5个月身孕。

So what’s a desk-bound worker to do? First, Hamilton suggests you change how you think about fitness. We have a tendency to segment our lives—work, home, and downtime. Exercise falls into the last category, something we squeeze into our busy schedules when possible. But if you stop thinking about exercise as an activity, and instead think of it as a lifestyle, it’s easier to make healthy choices throughout the day. 

这样，对于一定要围绕办公桌开展工作的人员该怎么做呢？首先，哈密顿建议你改变关于健康的观念。人们倾向于将生活分割开来：分割为工作、居家、休息。锻炼总是归为最后的一类，如果有可能，也是勉强插入我们忙碌日程中的一件事情。但是如果你不再将锻炼身体认为是一项活动，而是将之视为一种生活方式，在日常生活中不经意作有益健康的选择相对容易些。

In other words: Stop trying to be fit, and start trying to live fit.

换句话说：不再努力尝试让身体健康，而是开始试着健康生活。

Second, of course, is to stand more throughout the day. These strategies will get you up on your feet more often: 

其次，当然，是在一天中，尽量多站立。下面这些对策会让你更频繁的站立起来。

Strategy #1: Take two breaks an hour. Grab a drink from the water fountain. Pop over to the cube next door to say hi. Or simply stand and stretch for a minute. A European Heart Journal study of 5,000 men and women found that the quarter who took the most breaks during the day were 1.6 inches thinner than the quarter who took the least.

对策1：每小时中途休息两次。到饮水机上喝点什么。拜访一下邻居小屋，问候一下。或者只是站起来，舒展一下身体。《欧洲心脏杂志》上的一份针对5000男人和女人的研究发现，一天中休息次数最多的人的七分裤比一天中休息次数最少的人的七分裤要瘦1.6英寸。

Strategy #2: Stand during phone calls. It may seem like a small thing but, as Hamilton told Masters: “Small choices will help move you in the right direction. . . . It all adds up, and it all matters.” 

对策2：站着接打电话。看起来这是一件小事，但是，如哈密尔顿对玛司特斯所说的那样：“很小的选择能助你行进于正确的方向…积小成大，小事都关系重大。”

Strategy #3: Don’t write long emails. If crafting an email will take longer than 15 minutes, go talk to the person instead. Or stand up and call them.

对策3：不要写长电子邮件。如果一封电子邮件会花费超过15分钟时间，那么，不如去和那个人面谈，或者站起来，打个电话给他。

And if that’s not enough (and it may not be) . . .

如果这些还不够（这些确实有可能还不够）

Strategy #4: Ask HR for a standup desk. Australian researchers found that workers who log more than 6 hours of seat time a day are up to 68 percent more likely to be overweight. If you make the changes above and your waistline isn’t shrinking, a standup desk may be the answer. Make sure the screen is at arm’s length, and the top at eye level. Position the keyboard so your elbows are bent 90 degrees. Men’s Health Senior Editor Bill Stieg built his own. Check it out.

对策4：向人力资源部门要一台立式电脑桌。澳大利亚研究人员发现，一天中静坐超过6小时的工作人员，其超重的可能性（比一般人）要高出68%。如果作了以上改变，而腰围还没有缩小，一台立式电脑桌可能是最好的解决办法。确保屏幕在距离在一臂远，电脑的顶部与视线齐平。将键盘放置于手肘弯曲度90度处。《男士健康》杂志的高级编辑比尔.斯戴艾格自己动手做了一台。见图。