It’s no news that sitting in a chair to work all day is bad business. The habit is linked to a higher risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, dementia and several types of cancer. Just exercising every day may not be enough to reverse the problem. But there is good news.
A group of scientists studied 11 healthy, middleaged and elderly adults to find out the minimum amount of walking they need to compensate for the long periods people spend sitting. Qualitative investigations were carried out in various simulations of eighthour shifts. For example, on one day, participants walked one minute every half hour. Another day, they walked five minutes every hour.
To arrive at a result, changes in blood sugar levels and blood pressure were measured. The study was published in the US journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.
“We found that a brisk fiveminute walk every half hour was the only strategy that significantly reduced blood sugar levels compared to sitting all day,” said Keith Diaz, associate professor of behavioral medicine at Columbia University, one of the study’s authors .
According to him, walking for five minutes every half hour helped reduce the rise in blood sugar after eating for nearly 60% of study participants. If you don’t have time to walk as much, it’s also beneficial to do the bare minimum. “Shorter, less frequent walks also improved blood pressure. Even a brisk oneminute walk every hour lowered blood pressure,” Diaz writes.
Sport also helped to improve Mental health the study participants. In questionnaires distributed by the scientists, subjects reported that the practice helped reduce feelings of tiredness, improved mood, and made them more energetic. “Besides short, frequent walks, a long daily walk can add years to your life,” says the professor.
The goal of the study, Diaz said, is to provide guidelines to help people get more exercise, even for short periods of time. “Although it may seem counterintuitive, taking regular walking breaks can help workers be more productive,” he says.
He says that light oneminute walks had no effect on blood sugar, but it’s not possible to know if more vigorous walking would have changed the result. “We are currently testing more than 25 different strategies to compensate for the health damage caused by long periods of sitting.”