How to Stay Healthy Despite Sitting All Day

Sitting for long hours can be bad for your health, but here’s the good news: you can balance it out with just 30 to 40 minutes of exercise every day. That’s right, according to scientists, getting in some vigorous exercise can cancel out the negative effects of sitting for 10 hours. So, if you’ve been worried about the health risks of sitting too much, this might just be the solution you’ve been looking for.

The key here is to make sure the exercise is of moderate to vigorous intensity. This means activities like cycling, brisk walking, or gardening can do the trick. Even standing up and moving around a bit can help, but it’s the more intense exercise that really makes a difference. A recent study that looked at data from over 44,000 people found that those who increased their moderate-to-vigorous physical activity levels reduced their risk of premature death.

What’s interesting about this study is that it used wearable fitness trackers to gather data, rather than relying on self-reported information. This makes the findings more reliable and gives us a clearer picture of the benefits of exercise.

These findings are in line with the World Health Organization’s 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. The guidelines recommend 150-300 minutes of moderate activity or 75-150 minutes of more intense exercise each week to counteract the effects of sitting too much. And the good news is, there are plenty of everyday activities that can help you get more active, like taking the stairs, playing with kids or pets, doing household chores, or using walking or cycling as a means of transportation.

The experts also suggest starting with shorter exercise sessions if you’re not used to being active and gradually increasing the duration. The goal is to make physical activity a part of your daily routine, and even small changes can make a big difference.

While it’s challenging to come up with guidelines that work for everyone, the recommendation for 30-40 minutes of exercise is backed by existing studies. As research in this area continues to progress, we can expect to learn more about how to stay healthy even if we have to sit for long periods of time.

Emmanuel Stamatakis, a specialist in physical activity and population health, points out that there are still some unanswered questions, such as what exactly constitutes ‘excessive sitting’. But with ongoing research, we can look forward to getting more definitive answers in the near future.