In this study of more than 3,700 men and women in Finland, many sat for 10, 11 or even 12 hours a day almost non-stop after sticking to 30 minutes of exercise. I understand. These were the active couch potatoes of the study, with blood sugar, cholesterol and body fat all elevated.
But the study also found that men and women who got up and moved around a little more often, such as taking gentle walks or getting more exercise, were significantly healthier than active couch potatoes.
Vahid Farrahi, a postdoctoral scientist at the University of Oulu and lead author of the new study, said the results suggest that just one 30-minute workout each day can mitigate the downsides of sitting for long periods of time. indicates that it “may not be enough” to
In other words, Just exercising and sitting for the rest of the day is like no exercise at all.
Luckily, you can prevent yourself from becoming an active couch spud by taking a few simple steps (literally or not).
sedentary danger
The World Health Organization and other experts advise getting at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise most days of the week. A brisk walk is considered moderate exercise.
Substantial scientific evidence shows that this 30-minute exercise improves our health, mind and longevity. The question is how to spend the remaining 23.5 hours.
Raija Korpelainen, Health and Exercise Professor at the University of Oulu, Finland, and co-author of the paper, said: new research.
To date, most studies have investigated sedentary and exercise separately, and tended to ignore or downplay light activities such as walking around to the mailbox or getting another cup of coffee.
So for a new study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise in July, Korpelainen and her co-authors turned to a large body of data on nearly every child born in northern Finland decades ago. pointed at Researchers tracked their lives and health as they grew up and asked 3,702 people to wear science-grade activity trackers for at least a week after the group reached adulthood.
Researchers could see in 6-second increments whether someone was sitting, taking a brisk walk, or exercising formally all day. The tracker measured movement, so standing counted as inactivity, just like sitting. Using that data, they characterized people by how they moved, quite bluntly.
Active couch potatoes, nearly one-third of the group, were sitting the most and lounging more than 10 hours a day. They met recommended exercise guidelines. That means getting about 30 minutes of moderate exercise each day. But then they She rarely got up and accumulated less than 220 minutes of light movement during the day.
Another group also exercised for 30 minutes and sat for long periods of time. But during that time they would often get up and walk around. Compared to active couch potatoes, they spent about 40% more time doing what the researchers called “light activity.”
A third group sat for up to 10 hours without interruption, but accumulated approximately 1 hour of exercise on most days.
The final group, which the researchers correctly called “movers,” exercised for about an hour most days and moved about two hours lighter than the active couch potato group.
When researchers matched these groups to people’s current health data, active couch potatoes had the worst glycemic control, body fat percentage, and cholesterol profile.
Even when the researchers adjusted for income, smoking, sleep habits, etc., the other groups all had relatively improved blood sugar and cholesterol levels and about 8% less body fat than active couch potatoes, about the same. was good for cause.
Lessons learned from research suggest that, in addition to active training, Moves lightly and often, sweeps, climbs stairs, walks in halls, restless. His spot in the study suite included about 80 to 90 minutes of light activity, but “additional exercise should be beneficial,” Farrahi said.
You can also pack in a little more exercise. In this study, doubling the workout for a total of 60 minutes benefited. But again, “Do what you can,” said Kopelainen. Adding just 10 to 15 minutes to her daily walk is fine, she said.
“The goal is to sit less,” said Matthew Bumann, a professor at Arizona State University Tempe. He studies exercise and metabolism, but was not involved in the current study. “Each of us can decide how best to get there.”
This study has limitations. We only look at people’s lives at one point in time. Finns also participated. Mostly Caucasian, all somewhat active and possibly not representative of us, a completely sedentary comparison group was not included.
Still, “it needs to encourage us to think about how we spend our time,” says Bumann, perhaps reconfiguring our lives and spaces to move more. Try putting the trash can in another room,” he suggested.
“I try to go home and look out the window,” Farahi said. “Solutions don’t have to be intimidating,” he continued. “Keep it simple. Try to move more whenever you can, in a way that you enjoy.”
Have a fitness question? e-mail YourMove@washpost.com I may answer your question in a future column.
