THE VICIOUSNESS OF INACTIVITY

Extended inactivity is as bad for your health as smoking or obesity. I actually think it is worse. We become more inactive as we get older because we sit so much more. Sitting creates many problems for us.

What happens when we sit so much?

  • Our core weakens: When the core is weaker the body is less supported, particularly the spine. Compression on tender spinal joints then has a bigger impact exacerbating or creating problems like sciatica, spinal stenosis, arthritis of the spine.
  • Our body stiffens particularly the leg and spine joints.
  • The muscles at the back of the legs shorten and tighten producing leg cramps, difficulty walking and foot problems like plantar fasciitis.
  • Posture worsens: The shoulders roll forward, the back of the neck shortens and tightens, and the ribcage compresses down making breathing shallower.
  • Circulation worsens: Health declines when circulation worsens.
  • Toxicity persists longer in the body: As we sit inactive, our normal body functions slow. As a result the toxins produced as a natural effect of eating and breathing are expelled at a slower pace, remaining in our body longer. Excess toxicity often displays as feelings of irritability.
  • Extended sitting causes us to feel tired and sluggish: It seems like a paradox as does the reverse. Doing something gives us energy.
  • Depression increases.
  • We fall more.
  • Inactivity affects us mentally as well.

But it's actually worse than that.

This description is not stark enough to really describe the extent of what happens to our body, our mind and our spirit when we do nothing. Far more destructive effects occur than I feel are generally understood. 
  • The increased toxicity that forms when we are less active becomes a challenge all its own: It deprives us of life and energy. It makes us grumpy and even quick to anger. If it is chronic, it in effect ultimately changes our personality.
  • The mental changes are particularly insidious: Extended inactivity changes our personality! Have you ever known anyone who suffered from alcohol addiction? Heavy drinkers will sometimes have profound personality changes when they are drunk, often becoming vicious. You might think of that as increased toxicity that the excess alcohol introduced. Excessive inactivity changes personality too. The most notable change I have observed is that the person who sits too long gets more and more stubborn, irritable and resistant to wellness.
  • We don't realize the changes that take place with inactivity: The progression to stiffness in mind and body is gradual and most people frankly associate those changes with simply getting old. (This of course is a myth. Age is not the enemy. Inactivity is.)

A profound realization:
The longer you sit, the less you want to do.
Doing less makes us feel older, weaker and more depressed.

More on the effects of toxicity:

Have you ever woken up in the morning, feeling irritable and not understood why? I think the answer is toxicity. We build up toxins in our bodies from all sorts of causes: environmental pollution, emotional upset, stress, illness, addiction, old injuries or abuse ... and being inactive. 
The stiffness that comes from doing little allows toxins to build up in the joints and muscles. If we've been inactive for a while, that buildup becomes chronic. When we go to move or stretch the area, toxin gets released from the joints and muscles and into the blood stream to be flushed out of the system via the kidneys, liver, skin, etc. I think that the flushing of these toxins causes the irritability. Basically we are re-experiencing them after they have been stored up for a while. 
Here is a great illustration: Massage is wonderful for us. Often the masseuse will recommend that you drink lots of water afterwards. And it is for this same reason: toxins are released from the muscles through the massage, water helps the kidneys process those toxins out of the body. 

My own journey:

Late in the winter of 2024, I was diagnosed with a compression fracture of my lumbar spine. Being an active professional dancer, this diagnosis was bound to change my life, at least for a while. The treatment was to keep my spine immobile for 6-7 weeks to allow the fracture to heal. I dance every day so this was an extreme change for me. I persevered and kept training while still not allowing anything that would stress my spine. My vertebrae healed and I managed to get through the treatment without loosing too much of my dance ability by adapting to circumstances.
What I didn't count on was the recuperation that followed. Bringing flexibility back to my spine joints after they had been kept inactive for so long was a task far more difficult than anticipated. And it took longer too. Several months of uncomfortable movement to bring my spine back to its healthy self. I got to experience inactivity up close and personal and here is a detailed description that will hopefully help you overcome some of the obstacles we sometimes find in our way.

Why is it that we never want to exercise?

Understanding this process helps to explain why we are so resistant to exercise. Please know that many times you will not want to exercise, even if it is the best thing in the world for you to do. Understand that you will not want to do it. And then do it anyway. This is especially true during the first few weeks of a new exercise routine.

​If you have gone through a long period of inactivity then you will need even more patience. Work slowly and carefully and never give up. Things will get better. You will feel better. You will be better. But you must persevere and do what is best for you and your body.

The bottom line:

1) If you have been inactive for a period of time, don't be surprised when it is hard to start exercising because you probably won't want to. Use your mind to motivate yourself instead of listening to your feelings.

2) If you feel lousy or irritable: Exercise and drink lots of water to get rid of that toxicity.

Some proof of how sedentary behavior is dangerous for us:

As I was preparing this article, a study was published and reported by MedPage Today that correlated inactivity with fatal coronary disease. Patients hospitalized with acute coronary syndrome were evaluated one year after release from the hospital. Here are the report's findings: "Sedentary behavior was associated with increased risk of 1-year cardiac events/mortality among patients evaluated for acute coronary syndrome. Replacing sedentary behavior with sleep, light-intensity physical activity, or moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was associated with lower risk. These findings highlight reducing sedentary behavior as a potential strategy to improve posthospitalization outcomes."

This is just one example of the real effects of inactivity. Obviously the outcomes were for people who were already quite ill and refer to how sedentary behavior after hospitalization affected them further. But it illustrates how inactivity can be considerably worse for our health than even sleeping or than light to heavier exercise.

Other related Building Better Balance articles:

Published May 26, 2025.