The staggering amount of time which many of us spend being sedentary — according to one study, up to 15 hours a day if we work in an office — may lead to problems inside and out. You’re most probably familiar with the aches and pains that are caused by hunching over a computer, but spending too much time seated in a chair or slumped on the could also has been linked to several life-threatening conditions, such as blood clots, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, heart disease, and cancer.
However, there’s a way to fix this and, as a result, improve your fitness. And it doesn’t mean that you have to go to gym twice a day…
Break Up Your Day
It is recommended that you break up long periods of sitting time with activity for just one to two minutes. However, at the moment there is not appropriate evidence to set a time limit regarding how much time people should be sitting each day. Nonetheless, some countries – such as Australia – have issued recommendations that children limit screen time, such as TV and video games, to between one and two hours a day. This is to reduce the time that they spend sitting.
Ideas About How To Add Movement Into Your Day
Being more active doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing endeavour. The main thing is to scale back on both your sitting and how many uninterrupted minutes you spend in one seat.
A study from King’s College London demonstrated that individuals who targeted their sitting time with a particular strategy—say, switching to a standing desk or walking to the watercooler more frequently—were more effective in lessening their sedentariness as opposed to those who focused on including more exercise sessions in their days.
So work on cutting out at least two hours of sitting time with movement breaks. Such a shift is associated with all sorts of benefits, including:
- 14% lower triglycerides,
- Higher “good” HDL cholesterol,
- A trimmer waistline, and
- better glucose control.
Little breaks don’t seem like much however they add up. In fact, two hours that are spread over the roughly 16 hours you’re awake is approximately eight minutes an hour. You can do those in spurts. One research study has shown that adding two minutes more walking to each hour may decrease a person’s risk of dying by 33%.
You may also see that there are times when you could eliminate sitting entirely:
- Must you call your sister from the could, or could you chat while gently strolling?
- What if you prepared dinner while standing at the counter or gave up a seat on the train or bus?
Contact Trifocus Fitness Academy
Being more active shouldn’t be a chore. Once you incorporate this great habit into your life, you will wonder why you didn’t do it beforehand. On our Personal Training Diploma, we teach you what it takes to become more active. Read more about this course here.
