Do you want to know how to lose belly fat by just sitting down? 

You should if you have a desk job. 

Working your 9 to 5, shackled to your seat may kill you.

The white-collar employee is significantly linked to obesity due to the nature of their work. Sitting down for a prolonged time can have a detrimental effect on your health.

A study was conducted in South Korea that a sedentary lifestyle has been linked to cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. 

[source: Sedentary Lifestyle and Cardiovascular Health]

The terrible thing is, It just can’t be helped. If you don’t go to work, how will you feed the family? 

If you can’t pay your bills, where will you live? You could do labor work, but you are unsure if you can stand it.

Don’t despair, though because you can still get fit, even if you are glued to the chair for more than 8 hours a day.

And no, it’s not by meditating.

8 ways to lose belly fat by just sitting down in the office

If you are mostly sedentary due to your work, you can alleviate the risks by working out in your downtime. 

However, what else can you do while at work? Luckily there are many, even while sitting on a chair. The following are just some of them:

• Seated shadowboxing
• Seated knee raises
• Seated arm circles
• Seated oblique raises
• Seated quick feet
• Seated bent over arm raises
• Seated front arm raises
• Seated lateral arm raises 

1) Seated shadowboxing

You may look like a weirdo punching air, but hey, you’re a healthy weirdo. It’s okay, no one’s getting hurt except the air you’re hitting.

There are many combinations you can do to shadowbox but here’s just one of them, slip and rip:

1. Put your hands up as if you are ready to fight the computer.
2. Rotate your hips and shoulders while turning your face to the side. Keeping your eye on your computer (opponent).
3. Return to the original position.
4. Let it rip with a hook or a straight jab.

2) Seated knee raises

1. Sit near the edge of the chair.
2. Put your hands on the edge of the chair, shoulder-width apart. Alternatively, anywhere, you can hold yourself steady.
3. Lean back a little and raise your knee as if you are trying to knee your head slowly.
4. Slowly bring it back down, not touching the floor.

3) Seated arm circles

1. Sit up straight.
2. Put your arms out to the side in line with your shoulder.
3. Keeping your arms straight, draw small circles.
4. Do keep your arms straight and in line with your shoulder throughout the exercise. 

4) Seated oblique crunches

1. Turn your lower body to the left side while keeping your upper body straight.
2. Hold on to something like the armrest to keep your balance.
3. Lift your knees up to your chest.
4. Repeat the process on your right side.

5) Seated Quick feet

1. Hold on to the side of your chair or put your hands on your lap.
2. Keep your legs at a 90° angle.
3. Run, on the spot, lightly. Doing so will make you work harder.
4. Please don’t stomp. It’s good that you are keeping fit but try not to disturb your co-workers.

6) Seated bent over arm raises

1. Bend down with your arms straight and in line with your shoulders.
2. Raise your arms up slowly as high as you can.
3. Slowly bring your arms back down to the starting position in line with your shoulders.

7) Seated front arm raises

1. From your bent over arm raises, transition to a straight seated position.
2. Hold your arms out forward, keeping them straight and in line with your shoulder.
3. Raise your arms up until vertically aligned with your body.
4. Slowly drop your arms back down to the starting position, arms out forward and in line with your shoulders.

8) Seated lateral arm raises

1. From the front, arm raises, transition to side lateral raises.
2. The same as seated bent over arm raises without the bent over part.
3. That is, keep your back straight.
4. Arms straight to the side and in line with your shoulders.
5. Raise your arms as high as you can slowly.
6. Slowly bring your arms back down to the starting position.

I know some of these exercises can make you look kind of not cool in the office. I mean you are the only one doing it right? The others are watching you in amusement.

You know what? Screw them. You understand more than they do. They are not reading this article. They don’t know that a sedentary lifestyle can lead to life-threatening diseases. 

If they know the implications of being sedentary for long periods, they might even join in. 

So, don’t let those weird stares from your work colleagues stop you from shadowboxing with your computer.

Does sitting cause belly fat?

Yes, it does. If you are sitting down, your body is all relaxed; minimal energy is being expended. And that is how sitting causes belly fat. Let me elaborate.

Most people do not know how we gain weight. Let me tell you an analogy that I love to share in my articles that helps paint a picture.

Think of your body as a piggy bank. What happens when you keep putting coins in there? It gets heavier right? It’s the same thing as you eating; this is how you gain weight.

Now, if you don’t take out any coins from the piggy bank, what will happen? It will stay heavy. If you did take some out, it gets lighter right? Well, that is how you lose weight.

How do you take out coins from your piggy bank to get lighter? Either you break it into pieces or slowly take out the coins one by one. 

Breaking your body into pieces is, I would say, not a good idea. However, taking out the food you ate little by little is the way to go.

How do you do that? By exercising. Incorporating a gym session in your lunch break or after work will shed some calories from your body.

Sitting down for long periods will eventually lead to weight gain, belly fat, obesity, and diseases

Knowing the causes of belly fat, its consequences, and how to prevent them will only make the world a little healthier.

White-collar workers and sitting time

Many factors go into gaining weight and belly fat. One of them is sitting down for long periods.

In the U.S. an average inactive time rose from 26 hours per week from 1965 to 38 hours per week in 2009.

[source: Time use and physical activity: a shift away from movement across the globe.]

Your type of work is one of the contributing factors. If you are at your desk for the whole 8 hours of the day, you are living a sedentary lifestyle.

Now, this doesn’t mean you have to quit your job to find another type of employment. 

Is there something you can do at your work to get you off your chair?

If you are a coder, I know how much you love spending time on your computer running codes. Not only at work but also in your spare time, which is a double whammy.

Is there a way to be on your computer standing up?

It doesn’t have to be computer role jobs, but doctors, sales, managers, marketers, are also susceptible to the hidden hazards of sitting down.

The only thing I could think of cutting down on sitting time is introducing a sit-down desk in the workplace. 

There have been studies in which organizations have implemented this structure. The feedback was positive, with no drop in reading comprehension, productivity, or generating creative ideas. 

[source: Taking a Stand: The Effects of Standing Desks on Task Performance and Engagement]

How does standing up lose belly fat? A study found that standing up causes you to lose an additional 54 calories burned compared to sitting down.

[source: Differences of energy expenditure while sitting versus standing: A systematic review and meta-analysis.]

Not much? Well, if you multiply that by 8 hours, that’s 432 calories. Almost the same as two slices of pizza.

So, if you’ve been standing up the whole day compared to sitting, you have more room for 2 slices of pizza.

That’s not the point though. Those extra calories burned could be the factor keeping you from going over the overweight line.

Blue-collar workers aren’t safe

Although blue-collar work tends to be physical and hands-on, some blue-collar jobs require sitting down all day.

These workers’ job requires them to sit to get paid — jobs like taxi drivers, bus drivers. If you are working in this type of occupation, I suggest you get some time to stretch your legs. 

While waiting, why not stand? On your lunch break? Get out of the car and eat standing up. At a restaurant? Well, get it to take away and eat outside while standing up. Alternatively, you can eat in and stand up.

Conclusion

Our society has become sedentary. Analysis of history’s data proves it to be true. With the advancement of technology, our screen time has increased, making us more living a sedentary lifestyle. 

There is a direct correlation to being overweight and morbidity. Impaired quality of life and its difficulties can have a significant impact on life expectancy.

[source: Morbidity and mortality associated with obesity]

As society moves to an autonomous age, education about obesity should take precedence.

Once you know better, it is obvious what you should be doing. 

People don’t take action due to being uninformed. Some people who know won’t do anything because it’s hard. 

However, they do act when it’s too late.

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