Is it good for a man to stand on his feet for a long time? How to avoid leg problems when constantly standing

In the topic of movement, one of the most important issues is the problem of the harm of sitting. Sitting is harmful and sitting causes us serious harm and we can well say that “Sitting is the new smoking.” Leading experts agree: Sitting (more than 10 hours a day) actually causes more health problems than smoking. The health consequences occur equally for all people: all ages, both sexes, all races and countries. Note that sitting is much more harmful than standing or lying down.

In Britain, about 32% of the British population spend more than 10 hours a day sitting. Of these, 50% rarely leave their workplace and even have lunch at the office desk. It is noted that about half of office workers complain of pain in the lower spine.

Man is not made to sit on a chair.

The point of sitting is to give the body a break from movement and vertical position, which is a basic specific feature of the structure of our body, given to us by nature. Man is created to be on the move all day: moving to work, moving at work, walking and feeding children, collecting food, hunting, etc. People who previously lived and worked in rural areas sat only for the purpose of short-term recreation. But today this figure has increased to an average of 13 hours a day, with 8 hours spent sleeping and only 3 hours left for movement (the real numbers in big cities are even lower). Sitting is harmful and sitting all day on the fifth point you destroy your health and strengthen.

Chairing has been a habit for the last 150 years.

Among the ancient Greeks, chairs were mainly the privilege of women and children. If you look closely at the drawings on ancient Greek vases, you will notice that they often depict women seated on elegant chairs. Men preferred to recline during leisurely conversations and feasts.

For a long time, the chair remained a prestigious thing. For the ancient Romans, a chair or armchair was an indicator of how successful a person was. The important official did not part with his folding chair, lined with ivory. It was carried behind him by his obedient slave. Only particularly respected citizens sat on the low, richly decorated seat - the bisillium. And the head of the aristocratic family sat on a home throne made of marble, arranged like an imperial one. The ancient Romans ate, read, wrote, and received guests while lying down. The favorite furniture of men was simple couches - kline, borrowed from the same Greeks. The ancient Romans ate while sitting only during mourning.

In the East, before and now they used to sit on the floor. Even in prehistoric times, the Chinese created floor mats for sitting and, accordingly, wooden tables with low legs

The sitting position is unnatural.

Sitting is harmful, because sitting is an absolutely unnatural body position. We are not designed to sit. The human spine is not designed to sit for long periods of time. Overall, the fact that the human spine resembles the letter S serves us well. “What do you think, with a large load on C and S, which one will break faster? C,” says Krantz. However, when sitting, the natural S shape of the spine turns into a C, which almost locks the abdominal and back muscles that support the body. You slouch, and your oblique and lateral muscles weaken and become unable to support your body. When you stand, the load falls on your hips, knees, and ankles. When you sit, the entire load is transferred to the pelvis and spine, increasing pressure on the intervertebral discs. Magnetic resonance imaging shows that even the ideally correct sitting position causes serious pressure on the back.

1. Sitting is harmful, it increases the risk of developing many diseases

Sitting is very dangerous for your health because it significantly increases your risk of diabetes or cardiovascular disease. At the same time, know that no amount of physical exercise and training, as previously thought, will remove the harm from sitting for long periods of time. For every hour you sit watching TV or listening to a lecture, your life is shortened by 22 additional minutes. People who sat for 11 hours or more per day had a 40 percent greater risk. The power of stool extends far beyond obesity; if you sit too long, diabetes, osteoporosis, heart disease and early death are on your heels.

Sitting is harmful and those who, for whatever reason, sit for more than 4 hours every day are more susceptible to chronic diseases than others. They can develop cardiovascular disease, hypertension and even cancer. Moreover, the risk of acquiring the disease increases with the number of hours spent in a chair.

Australian researchers have made a completely frightening conclusion, which sounds like a death sentence for a modern person, who often spends both working and free time at the computer. Those who sit more than 11 hours a day have a 40% higher risk of dying in the next three years compared to those who spend three times less time sitting.

We also note stagnation of blood and lymph, the risk of blood clots in predisposed people. Inactivity, which in 99% of cases accompanies long periods of sitting, causes stagnation of blood and fluids in the legs. It is even more harmful to sit with your legs crossed, as this further impedes blood flow. Women should be more attentive to this problem, because it causes, among other things, fatty thighs and cellulite. “sitting still syndrome”, or simply thrombosis. For men, sitting constantly is especially harmful and increases the risk of prostate diseases. Due to prolonged sitting and lack of movement, the blood in the veins stagnates and because of this, there is a possibility of blood clots.

2. Comfortable chairs don't work.

Over the past 30 years, the swivel office chair industry has grown to a $3 billion industry, with more than 100 companies operating in the US market. The most popular office chair provides lumbar support. However, scientists do not share their enthusiasm. Aeron is too low, says Danish doctor A. S. Mandal. “I visited Herman Miller a few years ago and they get it. The chairs need to be higher so you can move. But while they have huge sales, they don’t want to change anything,” the doctor complains. A significant share of ideas about what a comfortable chair should look like comes from the furniture industry from the 1960-1970s, when numerous complaints from workers about back pain began to be received.

The main cause of the problem was the lack of lumbar support. “However, lumbar support does not help the spine much,” says the expert. “There is no way out of this problem,” says Galen Krantz, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. “However, the idea of ​​lumbar support is so ingrained in people’s perceptions of comfort that it is not connected to the actual experience of sitting in a chair. In a sense, we are locked inside the problem."

When we sit at the table, it seems that we are very comfortable and comfortable. Comfortable - with a curved back, with the palm of your hand on which your chin rests, your head bent over the keyboard. But if you sit like this for two hours and then get up, you will definitely feel how numb your arms, back and legs are.

Sitting is harmful, much more harmful than lying or standing. The entire time you were sitting like this, the pressure on your spine was 2 times more than when you stand and 8 times more than when you lie down.

3. A sedentary lifestyle is worse than immobility.

Sitting is much more harmful than just physical inactivity. So, lying and standing are much healthier than sitting. Recent research in various fields of epidemiology, molecular biology, biomechanics and psychology leads to an unexpected conclusion: sitting is a threat to public health. And it cannot be smoothed out with exercise. “People need to understand that good sitting mechanisms are completely different from walking or playing sports,” says Mark Hamilton, a microbiologist at the University of Missouri. — A too sedentary lifestyle is not the same as a lack of exercise. For the body these are two completely different things.”

4. Standing is easier and healthier than sitting.

“If you do standing work, you use specialized muscles to maintain posture that never get tired,” says Hamilton. “They are unique in that the nervous system recruits them for low-intensity exercise, and they are rich in enzymes.” One enzyme, lipoprotein lipase, takes fats and cholesterol from the blood, burns fats for energy, converting "bad" LDL cholesterol into "good" HDL. When you sit, your muscles relax and enzyme activity drops by 90-95%. Within a few hours of sitting, the level of “healthy” cholesterol in the blood drops by 20%. Standing burns three times more calories than sitting. Muscle contractions, even those that occur while a person is standing still, trigger important processes related to the breakdown of fats and sugars. However, after the body assumes a sitting position, the action of these mechanisms ceases.

5. Increased stress levels.

Immobilization is the best way to simulate stress. Sitting causes a chronic increase in cortisol. And too much cortisol makes patients fat and depressed in a vicious cycle: the more stressed you are, the more cortisol your body produces. As a result of excess cortisol, you eat more, feel sadder and more frustrated, gain weight, and become sedentary. The cortisol system sabotages your muscles' response to movement stimuli, causing you to prefer sitting more.

6. Sitting is a bad habit.

In the last few generations of people, millions of brains have become “sedentary”. Most people in the modern Western world are overworked. Just as the brain adapts to the chair, so does the whole society. Sitting is harmful, and if the majority of people become over-sitting, then the structure of the entire society gradually adapts to meet the new environmental conditions.

Back in 2005, in an article in the journal Science, James Levine, an obesity specialist at the Mayo Clinic, determined why some people gain weight while eating the same diet and some do not. “We found that obese people have a natural tendency to be confined to a chair, and this habit persists even when such people try to lose weight,” the physician wrote. “What amazes me is that humans have evolved over 1.5 million years to gain the ability to walk and move around. And literally 150 years ago, 90% of all human activity was associated with agriculture. In a tiny space of time we became chair-bound."

If you sit for a long period, the brain becomes sedentary in structure and, ultimately, this is reflected in the way you think - a seated body also gives rise to a sedentary mind. But the good news is that if a person tied to a chair takes the first step: gets up and walks, then the brain, like the muscle, begins to adapt to the movement. The brain of a person who begins to sit less and walk more triggers new factors of neuroplasticity. Under these conditions, over a long period of time, the brain adapts to the newly acquired skill of its owner.

Because the brain is constantly adapting, it takes approximately three weeks for the necessary changes in the brain to occur. In threeweeks, a “chair-aholic” can become a “walker.” Remember that sitting is harmful and start looking at your chair with caution!

If you read this article while sitting, by the middle of the text you will want to stand up, and by the end you will want to take an important step towards a healthier lifestyle.

If you read this article while sitting, by the middle of the text you will want to stand up, and by the end you will want to take an important step towards a healthier lifestyle.

In recent decades, humanity has been sitting too long. For example, in the USA, where it is especially popular to stay at work late, they write about an average of 10 hours in the office per day.

And the average Briton, according to scientists, spends 14 hours 39 minutes per day in a sitting position. In addition to directly working in the office (or working time on computers at home), an average of 2.5 hours a day is spent watching TV and sitting at the computer.

In general, we sit approximately 75% of the office time, and everything is aggravated by the fact that the periods of “sitting” are usually quite long - more than 30 minutes, which is very, very unhealthy.

The Science of Sitting: 8 Proven Effects of Sitting

In general, the first evidence that sitting for a long time is very harmful to health appeared relatively recently: in the 1950s.

Then British scientists compared data on coronary insufficiency among bus drivers (they sit all the time) and conductors (they are constantly on their feet). Both professions in Britain attracted people of similar age and physical condition, and the data were adjusted for gender and age, and this gave some semblance of objectivity to the analysis.

Scientists' conclusion: Among conductors, the incidence of heart disease was noticeably lower than among drivers.

1. Sitting for long periods of time leads to excess weight.

The scientists' conclusion is quite obvious: among people who work while sitting, cases of obesity are noticeably more common. It is estimated that over the past 50 years, since most jobs have become sedentary, the average American in the United States has spent 120-140 fewer calories per day.

2. Increased risk of heart attack

A large-scale study involving more than 17 thousand people and lasting more than 13 years showed that Sedentary people are 54% more likely to die from a heart attack.

3. Increased risk of chronic diseases

In a study of more than 63 thousand Australians, it was found that men who spent more than 4 hours a day in a sitting position were significantly more likely to suffer from chronic diseases, in particular, heart disease and diabetes - which confirms both previous points.

4. Life expectancy decreases

Scientists examined TV viewing data for 11,000 people from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and found that people who sit in front of TV for 6 or more hours a day live on average 4.8 years less than those who watch no TV at all.

And one more figure from the same study: every hour spent sitting in front of a blue screen after the age of 25 reduces life expectancy by 22 minutes.

5. Increased risk of death from cancer

According to some data, people spend a lot of time in a sitting position increase the risk of certain types of cancer by up to 66% compared to those who do not abuse sitting.

One study also found that a sedentary lifestyle increases the risk of endometrial cancer by 32%, the risk of colorectal cancer by 24%, and lung cancer by 21%.

Every extra 2 hours of sitting a day adds 8% to your risk of colorectal cancer.

6. Increased risk of kidney disease

In a 2012 study, researchers found a link between kidney disease and a sedentary lifestyle. For example, among women who spend less than 3 hours a day sitting, the risk of chronic kidney disease is as much as 30% lower.

7. Sitting is bad for your mental health.

Women who remained predominantly sedentary outside of work in a 2012 study reported mental health problems.

8. People with disabilities are more common among sedentary people

The researchers who conducted the study found that every hour spent sitting by people aged 60 and over was associated with a 50% greater likelihood of becoming disabled.

Dr. James Levine, in his book Get Up!: Why Your Chair is Killing You and What You Can Do About It, concludes that Sitting for long periods of time is even more dangerous than smoking, kills more people than HIV. “We are waiting until we die,” he scares readers with conclusions based on scientific facts.

Can the risks of sitting be reduced by engaging in physical activity?

New York experts have collected the findings of scientists: it doesn’t matter whether you run every day or regularly go to the gym - this does not save you from the risks of sitting for long periods of time. If you spend a lot of time sitting - working in the office, in the car, on the couch - you are taking on increased risks of cancer, heart disease, kidney disease and overall shortening your life.

Dr. Graham Colditz from the Washington University School of Medicine calls for people to understand that physical activity and long periods of sitting are two different things:

“People don’t talk about sitting for long periods of time as much as they talk about going to the gym and going for runs, but they should!”

How long can you sit?

People in general began to move quite a bit and sit longer. According to WHO, only 5% of people in the world meet the recommended minimum requirement: engage in physical activity 5 times a week for at least 30 minutes.

And this is the minimum level: in general, experts recommend gradually reducing the proportion of sitting and at least half of the working time in some activity: walking or just standing.

But even here you need to know when to stop and not go from one extreme to another. Experts also recommend not standing for more than 5 hours a day. Standing for long periods of time causes joint pain, swelling, poor circulation and fatigue.

Sit, stand or both?

Gavin Bradley, director of the international group Active Working, advocates for reducing sitting time. Bradley himself has radically changed his approach to work; he begins his workday standing on a comfortable mat in front of his work computer. Every 30 minutes, on a timer, Gavin changes position from standing to sitting and vice versa.

Some companies motivate employees to walk more (and be healthier and more efficient): they install water coolers further away and even remove individual waste baskets, encouraging them to walk to a centralized one.

• Walk more often.
• Don't rush to board public transport.
• Walk around the office to see your colleague instead of calling him.
• Hold work meetings standing.
• Stand up when talking on the phone.
• Take a walk during your lunch break and have lunch outside the office.
• Use stairs instead of elevators and escalators.
• Take breaks during work and do a simple warm-up.
• Work at the computer in sitting/standing mode.

Work while standing

Today, many advanced employers provide their employees with the opportunity set up a standing place to work .

In addition to getting rid of many potential health problems Alternating sitting/standing work provides several other important benefits.

1. Burn more calories

Standing burns approximately 35% more calories than sitting. And as you know from the law of energy balance, this is a key factor for losing weight or maintaining weight.

3 hours of standing work during the day burns about 150 kcal (the exact figure depends on your personal characteristics).

Thus, if you change your lifestyle and spend time on your feet 3 hours during the working day, in a month you can additionally burn about 4500 kcal- according to the law of energy balance, all other things being equal (if you continue to eat and spend calories the rest of the time) this will allow you to lose weight by about 0.6 kg per month.

In a year you can burn up to 35,000 kcal - this is like running a marathon 10 times (i.e. fulfilling the marathon requirement almost every month), swimming across the Bosphorus 39 times and climbing Elbrus 5 times.

2. Posture and muscle tone

UC Berkeley professor Galen Krantz writes that sitting is an absolutely unnatural body position. Humans are not naturally designed to sit for long periods of time.

The spine is not designed to sit for long periods of time. The S-shaped shape of the spine allows you to withstand high loads, and in a sitting position, the S turns into a C, which almost blocks the abdominal and back muscles that support the body.

A person slouches, the oblique and lateral abdominal muscles weaken and, without regular training, they can no longer cope with supporting the body. When standing, the load on the back is halved, and the muscles of the legs and abs are toned.

When you sit, the entire load is transferred to the pelvis and spine, increasing pressure on the intervertebral discs. The MRI shows that even with the correct posture (which few people can achieve and not all the time), sitting causes serious pressure on the back.

3. Productivity

From a scientific point of view, this issue is still controversial. Some experts and studies suggest a 15% increase in efficiency when working while standing.

And in a recent study from Texas A&M University, which lasted 6 months, they generally counted increase in the efficiency of call center workers by 46% when working at tables with height adjustment.

However, in fairness, we will say that there are also studies that did not find any increase in productivity when working while standing.

Jack Callaghan, a professor at the University of Waterloo, analyzed 8 scientific sources on standing and productivity. He did not receive clear conclusions: 3 studies indicated an increase in productivity, another 3 did not find any effect, and one contained mixed results.

It is assumed that the effectiveness of standing work is also related to the nature of the activity itself. Latvian startup incubator Draugiem Group compared productivity in standing and sitting positions using its own DeskTime application. Productivity increased in simple tasks, where the main thing is to “get down to it and do it.” When standing, a person is more focused and less distracted.

4. Standing solutions

In the same Ikea there is “Skarsta” - a table with an adjustable tabletop height. Turn the knob and set the height you need - from 70 to 120 cm.

Skarst's table

There are inexpensive solutions for working on the basis of a table you already have, for example, the domestic “Meerkatus”. The workplace itself is surprisingly easy to build: 20 seconds is enough, and if necessary, disassemble and carry away - it weighs less than 5 kg. The stand will fit on any table, and the height of the tabletop can be easily adjusted to suit your height.

“Meerkatus” is easy to customize by choosing a comfortable hand position (There is a wide shelf for the mouse and keyboard, which provides support for the wrists). And what is equally important is that when working with a stand, the correct position of the head is maintained (this is very important for the prevention of “text neck”).

With “Meerkatus” you can work at a laptop with a straight back, both sitting and standing, thanks to the removable stand for working while sitting.

Meerkatus stand

How to properly set up a standing desk

Pay attention to the picture: The optimal height of the tabletop is the beginning of the biceps (with the arm lowered) or, more simply, the tabletop should be slightly below elbow level.

Pay attention to the angle of the monitor. If you are reading a book, then on the corner of the tabletop. Working at a desk also has a beneficial effect on vision, since a working angle of 15-17° is more effective for the eyes than a horizontal surface. This fact was verified and approved by the Research Institute of Eye Diseases named after. Helmholtz.

Stay healthy!

We're pretty sure that if you've made it this far, we've convinced you of the need to alternate between sitting and standing. Don't delay, forget or forget this important information. Live healthier and extend your life!published . If you have any questions about this topic, ask them to the experts and readers of our project .

P.S. And remember, just by changing your consciousness, we are changing the world together! © econet

The most common problems that a sedentary, inactive lifestyle can give us are problems with the spine. Basically, the emphasis is on problems with posture, pain in the shoulders, neck, back and headaches. But the “bonuses” don’t end there.

This also includes problems with the lungs, heart and stomach. Want to know what happens to your body when you spend too much time at work or on your favorite couch watching TV?

Head

Blood clots that form as a result of sitting for long periods of time can travel through the circulatory system and travel to the brain, causing a stroke.

This also includes headaches caused by poor blood flow and problems with the neck and spine. Due to headaches, concentration deteriorates and vision problems may occur.

The fluid that is retained in the legs during a day of sedentary work moves into the neck when you take a horizontal position, that is, you go to bed. And it can cause obstructive sleep apnea - a sudden stop in breathing.

Previously, problems with sleep apnea were associated with obesity, but according to medical data, about 60% of people suffering from this syndrome are not overweight. According to a recent study conducted by Canadian scientists, it turned out that in people who spend almost their entire working day sitting, fluid accumulates in the legs, which then moves to the neck when the person assumes a horizontal position (that is, sleeps). This fluid is what causes breathing problems at night.

Heart

A sedentary lifestyle can lead to cardiovascular disease. In people who have heart failure and obstructive sleep apnea, fluid accumulates in the lungs and neck at night.

Lungs

In people suffering from heart failure and other heart problems, fluid can accumulate in the lungs, leading to breathing problems. Here you can add pulmonary embolism. The problem is even more unpleasant than its name.

Stomach

A sedentary and sedentary lifestyle can lead to obesity and problems with the gastrointestinal tract (including colon cancer). Enzymes that are responsible for working the muscles of blood vessels, which in turn are responsible for burning fat, are turned off. And the metabolic regulation by which the body burns its fuel (especially glucose and lipids) becomes disrupted.

As a result, your butt takes the shape and size of your desk chair.

Here you can add constipation, hemorrhoids and “other joys of life.”

Legs

As mentioned above, during prolonged sitting, fluid accumulates in the legs, which leads to swelling. Another problem is varicose veins.

Modern life is becoming more and more hypodynamic, and we spend less and less time in movement and physical labor. But even with this lifestyle, situations often arise when you have to stand on your feet for a long time. Perhaps this is more true for women: they often go to clinics and other institutions, standing in queues, they spend a lot of time in the kitchen preparing food for their households, and also many of them are forced to be on their feet due to the nature of their professional activities.

Standing for a long time is tiring and not harmless for any person. What can we say about pregnant women, who sometimes get very tired even from just a few minutes of standing on their feet. And if they have to stand for several hours in a row?.. Of course, they will certainly ask themselves whether standing for a long time during pregnancy is harmful and what to do if standing is difficult in general. And they will do the right thing, because in this case, indeed, “there is no truth at our feet.”

Any gynecologist and obstetrician will tell you that leisurely walks in the fresh air are extremely beneficial for a pregnant woman. As for physical activity in general, ideally one should strive to maintain a balance: ensure oneself a full night's sleep and short daytime rest, but at the same time also engage in moderate physical activity. That is, light work and even sports are definitely useful and harmless for expectant mothers, unless absolute bed rest is indicated for them.

But what no doctor will recommend is standing on your feet for a long time during pregnancy.

Scientists around the world agree that prolonged standing can negatively affect the health of the expectant mother and child, and the longer the period, the more likely and stronger it is. However, they assess the degree of such harm differently.

The American researchers who are most concerned are those who came to the following conclusions during their observations:

• Pregnant women who work 4 or more hours a day on their feet should go on maternity leave as early as 24 weeks of pregnancy.
• Women engaged in heavy standing work are advised to go on vacation at the 20th week of pregnancy, if the work is moderately heavy - at the 28th week.
• If a pregnant woman engaged in standing work has the opportunity to pause and change her body position (sit down, walk) every half hour, then she can safely work until the 32nd week of pregnancy.
• The greatest risk of having a child with insufficient body weight due to standing work exists in thin pregnant women with small weight gains.

Other scientists believe that the dangers of standing work have been greatly exaggerated. However, it still exists. In particular, if you stand on your feet for a long time during pregnancy, you can provoke the formation of edema and varicose veins (including hemorrhoids), a decrease in blood pressure and the appearance of associated headaches and fainting.

British scientists believe (and their research confirms this possibility) that standing work during pregnancy can cause intrauterine growth retardation and the birth of a child with low body weight.

It's hard to stand during pregnancy

In no case should you think that standing during pregnancy is completely impossible, and avoid it in every possible way. Women who work while standing are at greatest risk: they really better think about how it is possible to go on maternity leave early or, at a minimum, find a way to minimize the duration of such work

However, sometimes mothers have to stand in line or in the kitchen for a long time. Some women even experience pain in their legs and extreme fatigue; if they just stop for a few minutes, they feel fine while walking. If you find it difficult to stand during pregnancy and to minimize the associated consequences, use the following recommendations:

• Consult your doctor about wearing a brace: this device can support your back, prevent pain and fatigue in the back, lower back, legs, relieve some degree of stress from them and generally prevent undesirable conditions (pain, swelling, etc.).
• Shift from foot to foot, alternately transferring your body weight to one or the other.
• You can also “swing” by rising on your tiptoes and lowering your entire foot again.
• From time to time, do a little “exercise”: squeeze and release your buttocks, bend your toes and relax your toes.
• If you have to stand for a long time, then it is better to keep one leg on a small hill (that is, on some kind of stand), bent at the knee, leaning on it. You should change legs periodically.
• Give yourself a 5-7 minute break by walking or sitting down after every hour of standing work.
• Avoid a position in which you want to arch your back, sticking your stomach forward: this position of the body during pregnancy leads to pain and fatigue due to improper distribution of the load on the musculoskeletal system.
• If you have to stand for a long time during pregnancy, ask your doctor to select compression garments for you.
• Wear “low” shoes, but not with solid soles: during pregnancy there should be heels, but low ones and in no case stilettos.
• Get more rest in your free time and avoid hard work for the entire period of pregnancy.

In addition, do not forget that it is better to sleep and lie on your side (and on your left). You should also provide yourself with a complete, balanced, balanced diet, with a mandatory breakfast, lunch, dinner and small healthy snacks.

There can be only one case when standing during pregnancy is useful: if you stand on your hands and knees, more precisely in a knee-elbow position. This position helps relieve pressure from the inferior vena cava and all internal organs constrained by the uterus, improve blood circulation in the uteroplacental circle, and facilitate breathing. Standing on all fours during pregnancy is recommended in cases where the fetus needs to turn around in order to take the most physiological position for childbirth - head down.

Doctors advise all pregnant women to stand in the knee-elbow position every day, starting from the 20th week of pregnancy.

Especially for - Margarita SOLOVIOVA

No matter how much you love your car, no matter how convenient it is, sooner or later you have to leave your iron friend alone for a month or two (or even more): sometimes in the winter (when, due to heavy snowfalls, you have to travel by land transport), then during vacation or business trip.

Isn't such a long period of downtime harmful for your beloved car? And is it possible to protect a car from the possible consequences of long periods of inactivity?

Is it harmful for a car to stand on the street or in a garage for a long time - all the consequences of long-term parking for a car

Of course, a long period of downtime cannot do any good for the machine. 3-4 months in a garage without warming up and moving is not so bad, but a more solid parking lot can cause a lot of problems.

Possible consequences:

1. Oil. Modern car oils have a long shelf life. But these deadlines are revised as soon as oil is poured into the engine. Various additives in modern oils are subject to reaction at high temperatures, both with each other and with engine/gearbox parts. Which leads to their oxidation and the “delamination” effect. With constant use of the car, this effect is not observed due to regular shaking of the oil. In the absence of movement, these additives settle to the bottom. And starting the engine on already spoiled oil threatens to break it.
2. Petrol. Like oil, it loses its quality when left idle for a long time. In addition, excess moisture accumulates in the tank over time. Therefore, after a long period of parking, gasoline is simply drained.
3. Battery . All drivers know that even a 100% charged unit will be completely discharged after 1.5-2 months. Accordingly, it should be periodically “refueled”.
4. Sealing rubber bands, seals, gaskets . When lubricants drain (during storage) into the pan, the seals dry out and crack. If the machine has not been used for a long time, the seals will have to be changed.
5. Rubber hoses, fuel lines. If your car has been waiting for its owner for more than 4 years, then they will also have to be replaced as a result of loss of properties and cracking.
   Brake fluid. As for this substance, due to its hygroscopic qualities, it is capable of accumulating moisture. After inactivity (and indeed every 2 years), it should be changed.
6. Brake discs. After a long period of parking, you will find a layer of rust on them.
7. Brake pads. If they are parked without movement for more than 3 years, they should also be changed.
   Wheels. When parked for a long time in an unchanged position, the wheels are subject to deformation due to body pressure. Especially if the internal pressure level is too low.
8. Body. If your car is parked on the street for a long time, then the body of the car is also subject to destruction: precipitation contributes to the appearance of rust, UV rays “matt” the varnish, and everything that can fly from above accumulates on the roof (from tree resin and bird droppings to infinity) . In addition, it is worth noting the consequences of moisture getting on the bottom - this is the development of corrosion.
9. Hand brake. With regular use, no problems arise, but after parking the car for a long time “with the handbrake”, you will experience jamming due to the non-ideal tightness of the cuff, under which dirt and moisture can get trapped.

Where to store your car - choose the best option

The first thought is to leave it in the garage. And it’s far from the thieves, and it won’t rain. And if you don’t have a garage, then right under the windows of your house. There, the neighbors will look after you, and there will be no expenses.

It seems that everything is simple. But this is only at first glance.

Let's take a closer look at all the options:

• In the garage
  If there is one.
  Pros: no need to worry about the car being stolen; rains are not scary.
  Now about the cons. If the ventilation in your garage is poorly organized or not at all, then the damage to the car will be more significant than if you just left it on the street. All the moisture in the room, without ventilation, settles as condensation, both on the car body and on the air ducts, on the components of the ignition system, etc. And if frost strikes, then you cannot avoid problems.
• Near the house, on the street
  Pros: the neighbors will keep an eye on you, you don’t need to spend money on parking, the air exchange is one hundred percent.
  Disadvantages: in addition to the above-mentioned consequences of long-term parking without warming up (for example, a bottom rotten from the “reagent” winter), there are other risks. For example, a tree may fall on the car, a sewer pipe under the car may break (never park the car on a hatch), the car may be moved if it interferes with utilities, etc. Also, you will not be able to recharge a dead battery (unless your neighbors help you ). As for precipitation, there is a way out - you can cover your iron friend with an awning, but over the winter it will freeze to the covering and, accordingly, damage it.
  Exit - frame awning, thanks to the device of which the awning does not touch the car at all.
  True, there are also disadvantages here: Condensation will collect under the awning, which puts this option on par with an unventilated garage.
• In a secure open parking lot
  Pros: the tree will not fall, air exchange is maintained, the car is looked after. It is also worth noting that a battery that has died over the winter can be recharged in most modern parking lots.
  Cons: all the “delights” of the impact of precipitation on the body, no guarantee of vehicle safety (at most, security will call the police), parking fees.
• In a secure covered parking lot
  Cons: no guarantee of vehicle safety, parking fees.
  Pros: absence of precipitation and UV rays, air exchange, ability to recharge the battery, etc.

What conclusion can be drawn?

Recognized as the best option covered secure parking or underground parking.

Preserving cars for long-term parking during vacation or winter - preventive measures

So that you don’t have to deal with the consequences of parking your car for a long time after arriving from vacation (or after winter), take measures in advance!

For your attention - recommendations for preserving a vehicle during its long period of inactivity

1. Place. We are looking for an optimally convenient (relative to risks) parking place. We take into account both the impact of the environment and the risk of theft or other damage. The ideal option is a dry, warm and well-ventilated room.
2. Body. Wash and dry the body thoroughly. Then we coat it with a special anti-corrosion compound. Using an aerosol protective coating, we treat the suspension parts, as well as the lower part of the vehicle.
3. Engine. We turn out the spark plugs, then pour 70-100 ml of engine oil into the engine cylinders, turn the crankshaft by hand 4-5 times and screw the spark plugs back in. We completely fill the cooling system with antifreeze, and carefully plug the holes in the exhaust pipe and air filter with an oiled cloth.
4. Carburetor. If there is one, you should clean it and install a plug made of porous rubber, pressing it with a weight.
5. We drain all the water from all containers.
6. Installing the vehicle on the pads to remove the load from the suspension.
7. Filling up with gasoline - full tank - to protect it from condensation and corrosion. Given the ability of gasoline to evaporate, it is recommended to top it up regularly.
8. To avoid rotting and destruction, we carefully treat all rubber parts (including wheels) with special means (or lime) with silicone.
9. Do not tighten the handbrake so that later you don’t have to pour hot water on the pads frozen in the 1st position in an attempt to move off.
10. Remove all unnecessary components from the car , which may be of interest to thieves - wipers, radio and, if possible, even a battery. You can leave the battery, but only if the battery is in full working order and you are not afraid of thieves. It should be disconnected from the on-board network.
11. Chromed vehicle elements wipe with a cloth soaked in regular oil without detergents. When storing a vehicle outside, use solido or cyatim instead of oil.
12. We bleed the air from the wheels by 50%.

Some measures may seem too drastic, but if you are parting with the car for more than six months, it is recommended to follow the advice - this will save you the cost of putting the car into operation. Subject to availability take your car out at least once every 2 months for 10-15 minute walks .

If you need resuscitation of your car after serious downtime, contact the specialists - highly qualified specialists will quickly bring your vehicle back to life.