You may hit the gym at lunchtime or go for a run when you get home. But such efforts will have minimal effect if you spend the rest of your time doing what you are probably doing now - sitting down.

你或许在午休时会去健身房，或许下班后会去跑步。但如果其余时间里你都像现在这样——久坐不动，那么你的锻炼可能收效甚微。
In a glut of new research on the subject, experts are warning that we should 'beware our chair', as spending too long in it can raise the risk of high blood pressure, a sluggish metabolism and weight gain.

在最近大量的研究发现中，专家们警告大众要“当心你的椅子”，因为长时间“黏”在椅子上可能面临患高血压，代谢减缓和体重增加的风险。

With the average person sitting down for just under nine hours a day at the office, at home or in the car, even a daily workout is unlikely to offset the risks of being seated for too long.

一般人每天有近9小时的时间坐在办公室、家中或者汽车上，即使每天坚持锻炼，也无法抵消久坐的危害。

Sit ups: Being chair-bound for too long can raise the risk of high blood pressure, a sluggish metabolism and weight gain

从椅子上站起来！久坐对身体的危害包括高血压，代谢减缓和体重增加。

According to Swedish scientists, quoted in the British Journal of Sports Medicine recently, prolonged sitting should carry a public health warning.

《英国运动医学杂志》最近引述瑞典科学家的观点，久坐不动已成为威胁公众健康的隐患，应当引起重视。

So why is the humble chair being blacklisted? As the most passive activity behind lying down, being seated burns a bare minimum of calories - even eating an apple or fidgeting uses more energy than parking your bottom on a chair.

但为什么这次是“老实巴交”的椅子被列入黑名单呢？作为被动性仅次于躺的活动，“坐”的状态将人体热量消耗降至最低——吃一颗苹果或“坐立不安”的扭来扭去，都比“黏”坐在椅子上消耗的热量多。

While standing engages muscles in your back, shoulders and legs, sitting presents no positive physical challenge to the body, forcing it instead into an inactive state.

“站立”能锻炼背部，肩部和腿部的肌肉，而“坐”不但没有对身体提出积极的体力考验，反而强制它进入懈怠状态。

It is almost inevitable, researchers say, that long-term sitters find their waistline expanding.

While the action of standing up only burns a few calories, do it enough times a day and it makes a real difference.

It's easy to burn 30 to 50 extra calories a day, which is enough to prevent a weight gain of 2lb to 3lb a year. Spend your time sitting down and the pounds will creep on unnoticed.

研究人员说，长期的“坐者”都不可避免的遭遇了腰围增大的现实。虽然“站起来”一次只能消耗几卡路里的热量，但只要每天坚持做几次，就能起到明显的作用。每日多消耗30到50卡路里并不难，但足以防止体重每年增加2到3磅。如果大量时间都处于“坐”的状态，体重就会悄悄的降临到你身上。

On average, thin people stand for two hours longer every day than those who pile on the pounds.

The Swedish researchers found that the desk-bound and couch potatoes are much more likely to suffer weight-related health problems than those who move about regularly, even if it's just to get up to make a coffee.

平均而言，瘦子比不断增重的胖子每天多站立2个小时。瑞典的研究人员发现，离不开办公桌和爱坐沙发的人比常走动的人，更容易遭遇与体重相关的健康问题，哪怕这个“走动”只是起身去倒咖啡。

'Prolonged sitting really isn't good and yet a lot of people think they are more active than they actually are,' says Stuart Biddle, a professor in exercise psychology at Loughborough University, who is speaking on the adverse effects of 'the seated generation' at an international conference in August.

英国拉夫堡的大学运动心理学教授斯图尔特•比德尔（Stuart Biddle） 说“长期坐着的确不好，虽然很多人都不觉得这是一种惰性，他们依然觉得自己很活跃。”他在8月份的一次国际会议上谈到了“坐着的一代”引发的负面影响。

'People mistake the term for "sedentary" for meaning "no exercise", but if someone goes to the gym or walks for 30 to 45 minutes a day, but sits down the rest of the time, then they are still described as having a "sedentary lifestyle".'

“人们误以为‘久坐（Sedentary）’等同于‘不运动（no exercise）’，事实上如果有人每天在健身房锻炼30至45分钟，其余时间还是坐着，他们的生活方式仍属于‘久坐’。”

Sedentary lifestyle: Sitting at a desk all day is bad for you - try to take frequent breaks or stand up as often as you can

久坐的生活方式：坐在桌前一整天对健康很不利，请尝试尽可能的经常站起来休息。

It's not just weight gain that makes sitting down the latest health worry. Emerging research suggests something more sinister happens when we are inactive for too long at a time.

“久坐”不仅导致体重增加，而且成为最新的健康隐患。研究表明，人体长时间不活动可能会发生比平时更危险的情况。

Studies on rats have shown that substances that are produced only when muscles are being used play a crucial role in metabolising fat and sugar.

These substances can be made just by standing up or moving around. When you sit down, an important part of your metabolism slows down.

'This can eventually lead to disorders like diabetes,' says Biddle. 'But the important thing to realise is that people who get up every half an hour or so are much less likely to have these effects.'

对老鼠的实验发现，一些在脂肪和糖的代谢中起关键作用的物质，只在使用肌肉时产生。只需站起来或来回走动，身体就能产生这种物质。但一旦坐下，代谢过程就因缺少此重要物质而减缓。比德尔说：“最终有可能导致糖尿病等疾病，但每隔半小时从椅子上站起来一次，就会能有效降低风险。”

Regular movement is also important for preserving good posture. Sammy Margo, spokesperson for the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists, says that the human spine wasn't designed to spend long hours seated and that doing so can play havoc with posture, breathing and digestion.

经常运动对保持良好的体态也很重要。物理疗法特许协会的发言人萨米•马戈（Sammy Margo）说，人的脊椎不适合“久坐”，那样会严重破坏正常的体态，损害呼吸和消化功能。

A healthy human spine has a natural S-shape, but sitting pushes the lower lumbar curve into more of a C-shape so that the back and abdominal muscles designed to support the body are unused.

Over time, the postural muscles become so weak that they are unable to support the spine effectively and back pain inevitably ensues.

健康人的脊柱呈自然的S形，但坐姿把腰部往后推成“C”形，使本该支持身体的背部和腹部肌肉失去了作用。长此以往，背部肌肉变弱变薄，它们无法有力的支持脊柱，疼痛不可避免地袭来。

'With your knees at a 90-degree angle when you sit, your hamstring muscles and hip flexors are permanently shortened and your buttock muscles stretched,' says Margo.

'This leads to muscles and joints tightening so much that your body moves less freely and is more prone to pain and injury.'

“坐着的时候，膝盖呈90度弯曲，肌腱和髋部屈肌一直被压缩，臀部肌肉被拉伸，”马戈说，“这将导致肌肉和关节大幅收紧，长此以往，你的肢体动作变得不再自由和舒展，疼痛和受伤却比原来更加频繁。”

Breathing is also hampered, Margo says, as the body struggles to fill the lungs with oxygen when crunched in a seated position. Sitting also crunches the abdominal contents and digestion is slowed down as a result.

'All of this means energy levels can flag through lack of oxygen and sluggish digestion,' says Margo. 'Because your abdominal muscles are not being engaged when you sit, you will also lose tone in that area.

马戈说，呼吸也受影响的原因是弯曲身体的坐姿给肺部输送氧气增加了困难。腹部也无法舒展，导致消化减缓。“所有这些都意味着在缺少氧气和消化减缓的情况下，人的力量也会衰退，因为当腹肌处于松懈状态，就无法提供力量。”

'It's not good news and my advice is to stretch or go for a short walk as often as you can.'

“这不是好消息，我的建议是尽可能经常做一下伸展或一小段步行。 ”

There are other options for the permanently seated. Chairobics, or deskercise movements that can be performed discreetly as you sit, will prevent your muscles from remaining dormant.

其它可行的办法包括可以坐着完成椅上运动和桌边操，虽然做的时候需多加小心，但也能防止肌肉进入休眠状态。

Meanwhile, the next big thing could be the office treadmill - already available in the U.S. - on which you walk as you work. But the next best thing is simply to stand up more often.

接下来的改变可能是办公室专用跑步机（已在美国出现），让你可以一边干活一边步行。但当下最简单易行的办法是更加频繁的站起来。

'Get into the habit of standing up when you are on the phone,' says Biddle. 'Naturally your body shifts its weight from foot to foot when you stand. You'll be burning calories as you talk.'

还有一个办法是，“养成接电话时保持站立的习惯，”比德尔说，“并且通过换脚来不断转换重心。这样你在接电话的过程中也消耗了卡路里。”