We live in a sedentary society . Although in recent times exercise and sport have become popular, most people have a basic routine that requires them to spend a great deal of time sitting in a chair without making much physical effort. Also at a leisure level, a large part of the population hardly moves (for example, spends a large part of its time watching television or on the net), having a very passive life at a physical level.

Sedentary living can be a major problem: not engaging in any kind of physical activity is dangerous and can be a major risk factor for medical illness and mental disorders. It is even possible that people who want or need to stop leading this type of lifestyle do not know how to do so or are not able to do so. This is why on many occasions it will be necessary to carry out a psychological treatment of sedentary behaviour .

Sedentarism: definition and risks

Although it is a concept already known by most of the population, it is never better to revisit the meaning of the term sedentary in order to know what we are going to deal with.

Sedentarism is defined by the World Health Organization as a lifestyle that implies the absence of regular physical exercise or tends to the absence of movement , understood as the performance of less than half an hour of daily physical activity.

It is a lifestyle that began with the birth of agriculture and livestock but has become increasingly accentuated over time, as technological advances allow for the avoidance of large movements and minimize the effort required to carry out our tasks. Nowadays, even for something as appealing as leisure or social relations we hardly have to move , becoming more and more inactive.

Although technically not considered a disease or disorder, sedentary life is one of the main modifiable risk factors for a large number of diseases, as it weakens the immune system and hinders the optimal functioning of the body. In fact, about two million premature deaths could be caused by this factor.

Associated disorders

Some of the medical disorders that has been associated with are heart disease in general, obesity and hypertension , various types of cancer, and metabolic disorders such as diabetes (especially type II). Derived from the above disorders, it may also be found to increase the risk of stroke.

In addition, it also has an effect at the mental level: a sedentary person is much more likely to develop anxiety, stress or depression. It also facilitates and accelerates neuronal degeneration in patients with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

The advantages of sport

A relevant element when dealing with sedentary life is to show on the one hand the disadvantages it has and on the other hand the multiple advantages of doing sport.

In this sense, it should be noted that the performance of sport generates endorphins, so that it improves the mood of the subject. It improves the health of our muscles and heart, strengthens our immune system and improves the quality of life. It also increases our memory capacity and the level of energy and attention that we can put into play.

It also improves sleep and sex. It reduces levels of anxiety and depression and is even a protective factor for dementia sufferers. In addition, it often generates a sense of control and increases perceived self-efficacy. Finally, it slims down the figure and improves overall fitness, which can contribute to increased self-esteem in some people.

The psychological treatment of sedentary behavior

The aspects commented on above indicate that sedentary behaviour is a risk and a disadvantage for our organism . This is why many people consider the need for a change for which they may not be able to, or even in many cases have not considered their lifestyle, and that they go for psychological consultation for another reason but in which it is a very relevant factor (such as subjects with depression), so that they may require professional help.

The following are some aspects and techniques that can be used in the psychological treatment of sedentary behaviour .

1. Analysis and evaluation of the initial state and maintenance factors

Before starting a psychological treatment of sedentary behaviour, it will be necessary to evaluate to what extent one is sedentary , if there are causes for this and what are or if there are factors that prevent one’s behaviour from changing. The subject’s beliefs regarding exercise, health status (by means of a medical examination), preferences, context, expectations, the possible presence of emotional problems and the history of physical activity that the subject has had, among other factors, have been evaluated.

Some of the most common reasons for having and maintaining a sedentary lifestyle or not doing any kind of sport are lack of time, the presence of a low sense of self-efficacy (i.e. the belief that they will not be able to do sport or maintain it over time), the lack of self-esteem in general, the discomfort or comparison with other people in daily life or in sports centres, the presence of disability or even the existence of entertainment methods or the most comfortable and easy distractions to carry out .

All these factors have to be taken into account and treated differently in order to be able to carry out a successful psychological treatment of sedentary behaviour.

Once evaluated, a series of techniques can be applied to help the patient increase his activity level . It should be taken into account that during this process different aspects should also be evaluated and plans modified according to the circumstances of each case.

2. Psychoeducation

Many people are not aware of the risks of a sedentary life, or even though they know it is not positive they do not see a reason to change their behaviour. In this sense, psychoeducation can be useful, showing the advantages and disadvantages of both activity and physical inactivity. Graphic elements can be used such as the creation of tables of pros and cons .

3. Cognitive restructuring and discussion of beliefs and thoughts

This technique may be necessary at any time. There are many irrational beliefs and expectations about what and how one should be, what sport entails or how the world can react to it. Raising them as a hypothesis, generating alternatives and carrying out behavioural experiments to contrast each one of them can generate behavioural change.

Cognitive restructuring makes it possible, for example, to combat the dysfunctional beliefs about one’s own worth and self-efficacy that generate a position of depression and passive helplessness. For example, various types of records can be used to compare initial expectations with the results of a behavioural experiment and observe whether or not their beliefs are in line with what they expected.

4. Elaboration of objectives

If the subject agrees to introduce behavioural changes, these must be established jointly with the professional in such a way that standardised, gradual and realistic objectives are set.

5. Activity plan generation

If the subject agrees, a physical activity plan can be made. Together with him/her, the circumstances, what he/she is willing to do, and his/her preferences and goals will be analyzed to form a coherent and achievable plan. It must be taken into account that first a basic conditioning must be done and then the demands must be increased and maintained over time .

6. Gradual exposure

It is important to keep in mind that physical exercise requires a certain level of effort. Although it will depend on each case, someone who is not used to it cannot start with excessively demanding exercises or will find it complicated and tiring and will end up giving up. That is why exercise should be considered in a gradual way , inserting small physical activities (although not excessively easy either, but which represent a small challenge) into daily life.

7. Behavioral Contract

One way of encouraging the patient’s commitment is to make behavioural contracts, in which the patient commits to perform a certain activity, generally in exchange for a booster . It may be useful, for example, to associate the carrying out of physical activity with the achievement of a highly pleasant activity for the subject.

8. Self-instruction technique

A technique widely used in different areas in which we must learn or establish a behavior, is based on the use and modification of self-instructions or self-talk that we carry out when we do some behavior (for example: I have to buy … /I’m going to go and tell him that …) so that these are more positive than the previous ones and induce us to act.

9. Self-control training

The feeling of having little ability to control what happens to us or that our behavior has hardly any positive consequences in order to achieve our goals is one of the aspects that causes many people to remain in a state of passivity and lack of physical activity. Self-control training through Rehm’s self-control therapy can be very useful in helping the subject to self-monitor, evaluate themselves in a positive way and reinforce themselves by their behaviour.

10. Relapse prevention

A final step to be taken into account when dealing with sedentary behaviour is the idea of trying to maintain the behavioural change over time and make it difficult for sedentary behaviour to re-emerge as a habit . In this sense, it is necessary to take into account the existence of factors that may generate this relapse and try to prevent it and generate alternative actions. Likewise, the subject’s autonomy and sense of self-efficacy is promoted and reinforced.

11. Evaluation and monitoring

As the subject introduces changes and once the treatment is finished, it is necessary to evaluate if the objectives have been fulfilled , to contrast the previous expectations with the results obtained and to observe if at any point there have been difficulties and why.

Bibliographic references:

  • Buceta, J.M.; Gutiérrez, F.; Castejón, J. and Bueno, A.M. (1996), Psychological treatment of sedentary behaviour. In Buceta, J.M. and Bueno, A.M. (Eds.) Tratamiento Psicológico de hábitos y enfermedades. Madrid, Pirámide.
  • Hamilton, M.T.; Hamilton, D.G.; Zderic, T.W. (2004). Exercise physiology versus inactivity physiology: an essential concept for understanding lipoprotein lipase regulation. Exerc Sport Sci Rev, .32:161-166.