Sitting all day is worse for your body than we thought

Feb. 22, 2025 6:30 AM PT

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Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. Here’s what you need to know to start your weekend:

Is sitting the new smoking?
Scientists urge caution after a carcinogen is detected in water in fire-stricken areas.
14 places in L.A. that every Disney lover must visit at least once.
And here’s today’s e-newspaper

Is sitting the new smoking?

Self-care, for me, has always been a life raft of sorts during turbulent times. Even — especially? — in times of crisis, we need to care for our bodies. It even feels like a small act of resistance these days. Despite environmental disaster, political division and so much uncertainty about the future, I am determined to stay well.

Toward that end, I’ve been writing a lot about strength training lately. I wrote about how to train safely as you age and explored the Slow Motion Strength Training trend in Los Angeles. The January morning when flames engulfed entire L.A. neighborhoods, we’d just published the first installment of a six-part series I wrote on how to train for your desk job in order to offset aches and injuries that stem from prolonged sitting.

Three steps for stretching your lower back

Sitting is far worse than I’d even imagined, I learned in my reporting. (Yes, sitting is the new smoking … over a glass of wine!) Even just three or four continuous hours of sedentary behavior can lead to weakened, tight muscles, joint stiffness, inflammation in the muscles and tendons and tight fascia, among other problems. Deconditioned muscles, in turn — if left untreated — can lead to a host of painful conditions, including tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome and chronic lower back pain.

Excessive sitting also increases blood sugar concentration and puts us at risk for more global health issues, such as diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease.

OK, I’ll stop. But suffice to say, extensive inactivity — particularly sitting at a desk, which presents unique biomechanical challenges because the knees and hips are positioned at unnatural 90-degree angles — is really, really bad for you.

I interviewed sports medicine doctors, exercise physiologists, PT experts and fitness trainers to better understand the link between desk work and pain or chronic disease, and to come up with targeted, proactive exercises for six regions of the body. The exercises are meant to both stretch and strengthen your body parts; done regularly, they’ll help keep desk work-related aches and injuries at bay.

A series of hands placed downward on a surface lift one finger or thumb after the other

These “exercise snacks,” as trainers call them, take less than one minute each and they don’t require gym equipment. The routines are about five minutes each. Set a timer while you’re working and do one routine every few hours; or do just one exercise during short movement breaks throughout the day — it all adds up.

In an unexpected way, the fires brought new relevance to all my desk training reporting. Angelenos were staying indoors more at that time because of wildfire smoke. Or they were hunkering at their desks, doomscrolling (I know was). Wildfire victims were facing heaps of bureaucratic paperwork, such as insurance claims, loan applications or temporary housing agreements, likely executed while sitting at a computer. All of that together with the circumstantial stress can add up to stiffness and pain.

Even though we’re no longer in the acute phase of the wildfire crisis, sitting for work — which is on the rise, says American College of Sports Medicine President Stella Volpe — is a lifestyle crisis. Which, again, calls for self-care.

You can find all six parts of the desk exercise series here, together with video demonstrations.

We hope it’s helpful. And if there’s a subset of strength training that you’d like to read about, feel free to reach out.

In the meantime: stay strong and keep moving.

The week’s biggest stories

An oil refinery belches smoke against an orange sky.

Is California government considering oil refinery takeovers? Yes, it is

California policymakers are considering state ownership of one or more oil refineries to ensure a reliable supply of gasoline as the number of refineries in the state declines.
An oil industry trade group questions whether the state would have the expertise to effectively run a refinery, citing a lack of “understanding of the industry and how it works.”

Scientists urge caution after a carcinogen is detected in water in fire-stricken areas

Utilities have reported detecting the carcinogen benzene in parts of their water systems.
Studies have linked long-term exposure to benzene through inhalation or ingestion to the development of blood cancers like leukemia.
Research has also found long-term exposure can result in anemia, which can leave patients feeling weak and tired; a low white blood cell count, which debilitates the immune system; and a low platelet count, which leads to excessive bleeding and bruising.

Protesters demand Cedars-Sinai do more to protect pregnant patients of color

Protesters rallied outside Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to demand it take further action to protect pregnant patients of color, nearly nine years after the death of Kira Dixon Johnson.
Federal officials reached a voluntary agreement with Cedars-Sinai last month on steps to improve maternal care for patients of color, but advocacy groups including 4Kira4Moms said it doesn’t go far enough.

More big stories

Mayor Bass ousts L.A. fire chief, saying LAFD needs ‘new leadership.’
Real estate losses from fires top $30 billion, from old mobile homes to $23-million mansions.
‘Doesn’t feel very “locked arms” to me’: Texts reveal strain between Bass and Horvath.
Protesters and elected officials take action to halt flow of toxic debris to local landfills.
The Original Pantry Cafe owner threatens to close the historic diner over a union contract dispute.
The Trump administration backtracks on eliminating thousands of national parks employees.
Colleges and K-12 schools have been ordered by the Trump administration to abolish DEI or face funding cuts.
Ex-NFL player Chris Kluwe explains why he got arrested protesting Huntington Beach MAGA library sign.
L.A.’s gone all in on hyper-specific bumper stickers — the weirder the better.

Get unlimited access to the Los Angeles Times. Subscribe here.

This week’s must reads

‘My next home must be fireproof’: Why more Angelenos are looking to build ‘SuperAdobes.’ In Los Angeles, such homes are not the norm now — but they could be. And according to natural building advocates, they may be the architectural solution for a more fireproof city. Most SuperAdobes are dome-shaped and their construction relies on the arch, a load-bearing shape that utilizes geometry to offset gravitational and seismic forces.

More great reads

An L.A.-area doctor bragged about the good life. Now, he’s accused in massive real estate swindle.
Why Chinese students still want to attend U.S. universities.
Dairy workers may have given the bird flu virus to their pet cats, with deadly results.
Column: The real motive behind Trump renaming the Gulf of Mexico to ‘Gulf of America.’
Noses can be made smaller, breasts bigger — and legs longer. Here’s the brutal procedure.

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.

For your weekend

Inside of the majestic El Capitan Theatre

Going out

🚢14 places in L.A. that every Disney lover must visit at least once.
🥯11 delicious ways to support L.A. wildfire relief this month.
🪄‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ brings authentic magic to the Hollywood Pantages.
🖼️‘Queen Sugar’ actor Kofi Siriboe dives into the art world with his first L.A. exhibition.

Staying in

🎭Six of the best moments from ‘SNL50: The Anniversary Special’ (and a bonus).
🧑‍🍳 Here’s a recipe for Moroccan chickpea tagine.
✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, Sudoku, word search and arcade games.

A question for you: What’s your comfort TV show?

Cece Littlepage writes: “I have two shows that I turn to when I need a respite from the world, both of them now streaming on Amazon. Both are unusual comedies, a genre that can easily turn mean-spirited, in their uplifting humanity.
‘The Detectorists’ — a truly lovely, low-key and gentle British comedy that always warms my heart with its stories of two guys roaming the English countryside looking for buried treasure.
‘Schitt’s Creek’ — my go-to for laughs and giggles mixed with subtle lessons on love and tolerance.”

Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.