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posted by janrinok on Tuesday February 21 2023, @03:30AM   Printer-friendly
from the let-me-hear-your-body-talk dept.

Mounting evidence suggests that prolonged sitting—a staple of modern-day life—is hazardous to your health:

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


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  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday February 21 2023, @05:44PM

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Tuesday February 21 2023, @05:44PM (#1292906)

    Thanks, don't think I ever watched that one before.

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