Replacing just 30 minutes of sitting per day with any kind of movement can help you live longer.
As we know, too much sitting has serious negative consequences on our physical and mental health.
A new study shows that you don’t have to eradicate all sitting from your lifestyle, or put yourself in a pro exercise program to reduce the negative effects of too much sitting.
In fact, replacing just 30 minutes of sitting per day with some form of activity can have tremendous results.
Simple walking estimates 17% lower risk of early death according to the research. Higher intensity movement corresponds to 35% lower mortality risk the paper says.
“Exercise doesn’t have to be done for hours at a time. It’s something that anyone can do. It just requires walking, even for short periods of time.” says researcher Keith Diaz.
The Study:
The study was conducted by Keith Diaz, an assistant professor of behavioral medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
They used data from almost 8,000 healthy Americans who were older than 45 years who wore physical activity trackers for at least four days as part of a separate study.
The researchers used this data to evaluate how much time these people were sedentary and how much time they were active during a day.
The researchers found that even modest increases in physical activity contributed to a lower risk of death and higher health levels of the subjects.
The researchers found that small chunks of movement were just as much impactful if accumulated little by little as longer exercises and sessions.
Important Findings Of The Study:
One of the most important findings of the study was the fact that more small chunks of activity is as effective as longer intense exercises when it comes to health.
“We used to think that exercise had to be done at a moderate or vigorous intensity. We used to think it had to be done in 10 minutes or more at a time,” Diaz says.
“Our results kind of shift the narrative a bit. A one minute burst here and a one minute burst there actually can still be healthful.” Diaz continues.
One important potential flaw of this research is that it was based on simulations of the subject’s data and not actual trial where researchers observe the effects.
That’s the next step for the researchers. However, they don’t think much will be different from the simulations they calculated.
3 Ways How To Use This Study’s Knowledge:
You know too much sitting is unhealthy for you, and if you are like most of people, you sit for more than eight hours a day.
So this is ok, you don’t have to get a standing office desk (even though we recommend it), but if you want to improve your health than stop sitting for 30 minutes per day.
1. The first thing we highly recommend is doing 30 minutes of moderate exercise with stretching. This is not just healthy but it’ll tone your body and improve your looks.
2. The second best thing is to do 30 minutes of walking. You can use this time to answer your calls or to do the thinking, and you can do it walking.
3. The third option is to slice 30 minutes in 6 periods of 5 minutes. You can use every hour to walk for 5 minutes, exercise for another 5, stretch, or something else.
References:
– https://academic.oup.com/aje/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/aje/kwy271/5245876;
– http://time.com/5502042/sitting-exercise-move/;
– https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/active-living/sit-less;
