Counteract Prolonged Sitting by Walking 5 Minutes Twice an Hour

Your body needs to move—often. If the couch captures you most of the day, break free every half hour for a quick movement break. AN Photographer2463/Shutterstock
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Exercise physiologists have found that the optimal amount of movement to offset some of the harmful effects of prolonged sitting was just five minutes of walking every 30 minutes. It was also enjoyable enough to maintain, making it sustainable.

Study lead Keith Diaz of Columbia University said that while most studies recommend against sitting for long hours, few have provided clear and specific guidelines to counteract the toll that sitting puts on both the mind and body.

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.

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“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,” the professor of behavioural medicine at Columbia University said.

Our already inactive lifestyles became even more deskbound during the pandemic, with more people now working and studying from home.

In the United States, daily steps plunged 15 percent within 15 days of the pandemic declaration, and according to researchers at the University of California–San Francisco, and the situation hasn’t improved.

All Exercise Snacks Improved Heart Health

The study required healthy participants in their 40s, 50s, and 60s to sit in an ergonomic chair for eight hours, rising only for an exercise snack of walking on the treadmill or a bathroom break.

They were allowed to work on a laptop, read, and use their phones during the sessions and were provided meals.

The researchers found that out of all the variations tested, taking a five-minute exercise break every 30 minutes was the most effective amount of movement and the only one that significantly lowered both blood sugar and blood pressure—key indicators of cardiovascular health.

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This walking regimen also had a dramatic effect on how the participants responded to large meals, reducing blood sugar spikes by 58 percent compared with those who did not take exercise breaks.

Walking for even one minute reduced blood pressure by four to five millimetres of mercury (mmHg) compared with sitting all day.

“This is a sizeable decrease, comparable to the reduction you would expect from exercising daily for six months,” Diaz said.

Exercise Snacks also Improved Mood

Another perk the researchers discovered was that all walking regimens, except walking one minute every hour, led to considerable decreases in fatigue and improvements in mood.

“The effects on mood and fatigue are important,” Diaz said.

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“People tend to repeat behaviours that make them feel good and that are enjoyable.”

In the workplace, standing desks are becoming a more commonplace solution to cut down on sitting time and improve posture, circulation, and energy levels.

According to a study published in Human Factors, these desks trigger increased brain activity and don’t hinder cognitive performance.
Sitting and other forms of prolonged, uninterrupted sedentary time promote cardiometabolic disorders, obesity, depression, and all-cause mortality in adults.(Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock)
Sitting and other forms of prolonged, uninterrupted sedentary time promote cardiometabolic disorders, obesity, depression, and all-cause mortality in adults.Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock
Other benefits of standing include:
  • prevention of the body’s tissue adaptation to static positions, such as short hip flexors and hamstrings, rounded upper back, and poor shoulder position,
  • prevention of orthopedic degradation and dysfunction, including back and neck pain, repetitive stress injuries, pelvic floor dysfunction, and knee and hip disorders,
  • increased creativity and educational test scores, and
  • increased engagement and active learning in the classroom.
The exercise snacks study was published online in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, the journal of the American College of Sports Medicine.