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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.