Few studies have compared multiple options to come up with the answer most office workers want: What is the least amount of activity needed to counteract the health impact of a workday filled with sitting?
Now a study by Columbia University exercise physiologists has an answer: just five minutes of walking every half hour during periods of prolonged sitting can offset some of the most harmful effects.
[...] Unlike other studies that test one or two activity options, Diaz's study tested five different exercise "snacks": one minute of walking after every 30 minutes of sitting, one minute after 60 minutes; five minutes every 30; five minutes every 60; and no walking.
"If we hadn't compared multiple options and varied the frequency and duration of the exercise, we would have only been able to provide people with our best guesses of the optimal routine," Diaz says.
[...] The optimal amount of movement, the researchers found, was five minutes of walking every 30 minutes. This was the only amount that significantly lowered both blood sugar and blood pressure. In addition, this walking regimen had a dramatic effect on how the participants responded to large meals, reducing blood sugar spikes by 58% compared with sitting all day.
[...] Taking a walking break every 30 minutes for one minute also provided modest benefits for blood sugar levels throughout the day, while walking every 60 minutes (either for one minute or five minutes) provided no benefit.
All amounts of walking significantly reduced blood pressure by 4 to 5 mmHg compared with sitting all day. "This is a sizeable decrease, comparable to the reduction you would expect from exercising daily for six months," says Diaz.
[...] "What we know now is that for optimal health, you need to move regularly at work, in addition to a daily exercise routine," says Diaz. "While that may sound impractical, our findings show that even small amounts of walking spread through the work day can significantly lower your risk of heart disease and other chronic illnesses."
Journal Reference:
Duran, Andrea T.; Friel, Ciaran P.; Serafini, Maria A.; et al. Breaking Up Prolonged Sitting to Improve Cardiometabolic Risk: Dose-Response Analysis of a Randomized Cross-Over Trial, Med Sci Sport Exer, 2023. DOI: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000003109
(Score: 5, Funny) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Tuesday February 21 2023, @04:38AM (6 children)
and never finishing that difficult piece of code I've been asked to finish: a 5-minute stroll every half hour.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by aafcac on Tuesday February 21 2023, @05:22AM
It's an ideal. It's also a good time to look at something that's at least 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds. In your case you'd either do it after the code is done or you'd find a way of doing both at the same time. In any case, you'd do the best you can knowing that close is better than nothing.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by quietus on Tuesday February 21 2023, @09:24AM (2 children)
Strongly disagree. I'm no stranger to cat-hunting-mouse-focus 6 hours long coding sessions, only to take a short break, and realize there's a much simpler approach. Programming creates a kind of tunnel vision, and it pays to take a step back regularly. A painter wouldn't be very good if he kept his nose pressed to the canvas all of the time, would he?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday February 21 2023, @04:04PM (1 child)
My most extreme example of this was my first job after grad school: company declared crunch-time overtime pay approval, so I went for it and worked two weekends, or 19 days straight 8 and 9 hours a day on "the problem." On days 20 and 21, He rested.
On day 22, He took a look at the crap He had been creating for the past two weeks, threw it all out, started over, and finished in 3 days with something better.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by aafcac on Tuesday February 21 2023, @11:27PM
That's a common issue. As the day goes by and one day becomes 10, there is a price to be paid. I can remember days where I thought I was too busy to take proper breaks, but then the time that I'd lose to not being rested would have been more than enough to have a proper break. In the long term, it just makes more sense to find managers that actually know how to do their jobs rather than having crunchtime.
(Score: 4, Touché) by sonamchauhan on Tuesday February 21 2023, @10:34AM
Maybe you'll write small subroutines :-P
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday February 21 2023, @05:37PM
The thing is, if you fail to fix your code for long enough, then you eventually will have plenty of time for walking, after your boss comes and tells you to get the hell out!
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 21 2023, @07:39AM (1 child)
Is laying down, what would cause bedsores eventually, better or worse than sitting in a chair? I sometimes write code in this position with my head propped up and the laptop on my chest.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday February 21 2023, @04:06PM
Bedsores come from "shear stress" on the skin which cuts off blood flow, eventually killing the cells that are deprived of blood.
If you sit so still that you never allow blood to get to certain parts of your body, you'll get bedsores there as fast or faster than anyone gets them from lying in a bed. Thing is, most people do fidget in their seats and a few seconds of restored blood flow mostly "resets the clock" for necrotic onset.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Username on Tuesday February 21 2023, @09:49AM
So they're saying the highest amount of exercise is the healthiest. If 10m per 30m was an option that would be the best. 29/30 even better.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Snotnose on Tuesday February 21 2023, @02:07PM
I'd put a CD in (later queue up an MP3 directory), work until it ended, get up, pee, get more coffee, lather rinse repeat.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by RamiK on Tuesday February 21 2023, @02:52PM (3 children)
.
.
.
Fuck that.
compiling...
(Score: 4, Funny) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday February 21 2023, @04:09PM (2 children)
Or for the same amount of time invested you could pack like lemmings into shiny metal boxes, contestants in a suicidal race...
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by krishnoid on Tuesday February 21 2023, @04:15PM (1 child)
For anyone missing the reference [youtu.be], you can (re)watch the music video in all its glory.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday February 21 2023, @05:44PM
Thanks, don't think I ever watched that one before.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 4, Interesting) by digitalaudiorock on Tuesday February 21 2023, @02:54PM (3 children)
OMG. The "Rx for prolonged sitting" is to exercise regularly...period. This raging bullshit that "sitting is the new smoking", and is so "even if you exercise regularly" was based on a total mis-representation of one bullshit study that's since been debunked by many others. Don't even get me started on that standing desk horseshit...WORST think you can do to yourself. As with most developers I sit a LOT. I also workout twice a week and literally almost never miss a week (for over 30 years)...mostly weight resistant stuff. At nearly 70, I'm 6" and 157 pounds with just over 10% body fat, and can manage 80 or more good pushups in one set on a good day. Just do it...and don't worry about sitting.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday February 21 2023, @04:13PM (2 children)
>that standing desk horseshit
Funny thing is, I now essentially have a "standing desk" in the (corporate) office. At home I still use a chair, sometimes a lounger, but on those two days a year that I do go into the office, most of my time is spent standing, walking, talking. There's not much point in being physically present "on site" if all I'm going to do there is sit at a desk in a room alone.
Interestingly, my home chair is nowhere near as comfortable as my on-site office desk chair - doesn't need to be, because: I regularly stand up, go do other things - no need to "look busy" by getting all ultra-focused on a screen for hours at a stretch.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by digitalaudiorock on Tuesday February 21 2023, @09:18PM (1 child)
I suppose if you're actually ending up doing a notable amount of walking around a standing desk is at least not bad, though I still don't believe there are any real benefits.
However if you actually end up working for long stretches standing up, that very much IS NOT good for you at all. It can cause all sorts of issues including joint issues, varicose veins etc. Ask people who MUST stand for their jobs and they'll tell you. That's why you see things like pallets on the floor behind the counter at pizzerias...as a cushion to help with all that. I'd never go to a standing-room only concert these days for example. That's unbearable for me for all those reasons. Even if you're going to buy into all these supposed evils of sitting, it's all about sitting vs moving...NOT sitting vs standing.
(Score: 3, Informative) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday February 21 2023, @09:24PM
Oh hell yes. Try taking cushie "office chair" feet, putting them in dress shoes and standing on a concrete floor at a trade show 8 hours a day for 3 days straight. The stress on your feet and even legs and back is hard to ignore.
🌻🌻 [google.com]