HOW MUCH EXERCISE IS NEEDED TO COUNTERACT SITTING ALL DAY LONG
Many jobs require sitting all day long doing your work. Even working from home some jobs still require to sit down and maybe work from your computer. But sitting all day long can be very harmful for your health especially when you find yourself slouching on the coach or chair your are sitting on to do your work.
A recent study which was in the British Journal of Sports Medicine elaborated on the issue and found that such sedentary work days can be counteracted with exercise. It is said that 30 to 40 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity is needed when having a sit-all-day job.
The recent study is a meta-analysis of nine previous studies on 44,370 individuals across four countries who all recorded their activity on fitness trackers. This study eliminates the risk of bias or mistakes through self-reporting.
Throughout the data, moderate-to-vigorous activity was recored which correlated with risk of death for those who led a more sedentary life, meaning that those who exercised less have a higher risk of death. For those who spend a lot of time sitting while working, which is normally between eight to 10 hours, exercise is highly recommended to reduce the risk of illness and death.
The authors wrote that with 30 to 40 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise a day, “the association between high sedentary time and risk of death is not significantly different from those with low amounts of sedentary time.”
It is all about getting your heart rate rising from time to time, and by cycling, walking, running, and even gardening, you can achieve that.
This study is not the final word on how to counteract sitting all day, however the study is in line with the most recent advice from the World Health Organization (WHO).
The World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behavior says that “reducing sedentary behaviors is recommended across all age groups and abilities.”
According to WHO, “adults should undertake 150–300 min of moderate-intensity, or 75–150 min of vigorous-intensity physical activity, or some equivalent combination.”
When you are working in an office and have to sit all day long, try to do some easy exercises near your desk. Work in some squads or take a walk through the office. If the office has stairs even better, take a trip up and down the stairs for 30 min to get that blood flowing.