The more time you spend planted on your couch or at your desk chair, the greater the risks to your health and longevity. The solution? Get on your feet and move.

If you spend most of your work and free time tied to your computer, glued to the TV, or driving, take heed: Research shows it’s better for your health to avoid sitting for long stretches.

Sitting for hours at a time has been linked with weight gain and obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease risk factors, and unhealthy eating habits. It’s also a culprit in deep-vein thrombosis. In this potential killer, a blood clot forms in a large leg vein and travels through the bloodstream to the lungs, where it can block blood and oxygen flow.

How much could sitting shorten your life? A study in the American Journal of Epidemiology showed that men and women who often sat for more than six hours at a time increased their risk of dying prematurely by about 20 percent and 40 percent, respectively, compared with those who sat for less than three hours a day. That risk was independent of how much they exercised. The people who sat the most and worked out the least had an even higher risk for death.

Sitting is bad for several reasons. For one thing, it isn’t exactly a big calorie burner. A 150-pound person expends just 35 calories in 30 minutes by watching TV. That’s one of the reasons why sitting a lot is linked with a higher body mass index.

Sitting also makes your muscles inactive. When you move around, your muscles contract in a way that may help control important blood fats, such as triglycerides and low-density lipoproteins (“bad” cholesterol), and glucose (blood sugar) to help keep your heart and blood vessels healthier.

Of course, if you work at a computer, you need to sit to do your job. Still, you can do a lot to make your life less sedentary.

Don’t Sit One Out
Every hour or two that you’re at your desk or sitting in an airplane, boost your circulation by taking at least a five-minute break from sitting. Stand up, stretch, walk around, or climb stairs if possible.

Meanwhile, make the rest of your day active by moving around whenever you can. When you’re talking on the phone, for example, stand or pace. Pump out a few desk push-ups while you’re viewing a Web conference.

Get as much exercise as you can before, during, and after work to balance all the sitting. Make a working lunch a walking lunch, for example. Instead of working and eating at your desk or visiting a restaurant, grab a quick meal (such as a brown-bag lunch from home) and take a brisk walk by yourself or with a coworker. Perhaps you can fit in a cardio class.

Not only will you feel better physically, but the exercise can help you cope with stress and enhance your ability to concentrate, learn, and think creatively. Strive for at least 150 minutes of moderately intense activity like brisk walking every week.

Activate Your Downtime
At home, think about where your schedule provides pockets of exercise opportunity.

On average, Americans watch nearly three hours of television a day. Why not use some of that time for a bike ride, a walk with your family, or an exercise DVD? Reward yourself with your favorite show.

Even then, when you’re watching TV, make it a point to get up and move during every commercial. Just standing and stretching is healthier for you than being a couch potato.

By Sandra Gordon, a feature writer for Vitality. For more information on activating your workday, visit the American Council on Exercise at www.acefitness.org.

© Krames StayWell. Information is the opinion of the sourced authors and organizations. Personal decisions regarding health, diet, and exercise should be made only after consultation with the reader's own medical advisers. This material may not be reproduced for redistribution without written permission from Krames StayWell.