‘Move more, sit less.’ You may know this refrain, but it is the Department of Health and Social Care’s distillation of advice to improve your health and reduce your risk of chronic disease. existing research Researchers have linked sedentary behavior to a host of health problems in both children and adults, from obesity and sleep deprivation to cancer and type 2 diabetes. But a new study conducted in Boston suggests that exercise alone may not be enough to reverse the cardiovascular damage caused by too much sitting.
team of researchers General Brigham Mass The health system recognizes that an overly sedentary lifestyle, in which most of the waking hours are spent sitting, lying down, or lying down, corresponds to an increased risk of heart disease, including heart failure and death. I showed it. However, the mere fact that exercise guidelines have been agreed does not alleviate this possibility. Their findings were published on November 15th. Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
“Many of us spend most of our waking days sitting. There’s a lot of research supporting the importance of physical activity, but more than just a vague idea that too much sitting may be harmful. Little did I know about the potential effects of overcrowding.” Dr. Ejimaka AjufoCardiology Fellow Brigham and Women’s Hospital said the study’s lead author in a paper. news release About research.
“Even those who were physically active were still at risk of being sedentary. Many of us are sedentary and think that if we go outside and exercise at the end of the day we will find balance. So this is important.” But it turns out it’s more complicated than that. ”
Ajufo and her colleagues UK Biobank It uses a health database to track the daily activities of approximately 90,000 people over the course of a week. Fifty-six percent of study participants were female, with an average age of 62 years. The researchers recorded time spent sleeping, sedentary, light activity, and moderate-to-vigorous activity. They divided users into four groups based on inactivity.
- Sitting for more than 10.6 hours per day
- 9.4 to 10.6 hours of sitting per day
- 8.2 to 9.4 hours of sitting per day
- Less than 8.2 hours of sedentary time per day
Participants who spent the least amount of time sitting not only spent the most time being active, but also slept the most, whereas participants who spent the most time sitting also slept the least. Activity was also the lowest.
Sitting for more than 10 hours a day is most dangerous for heart health
Researchers assessed participants’ health status a median of 8 years after recording their physical activity, focusing on participants who developed heart disease such as:
- atrial fibrillation
- Cardiovascular mortality (death)
- heart failure
- Myocardial infarction (heart attack)
Sedentary behavior was associated with increased risk of all the diseases listed above. Furthermore, those in the least active group who logged 10.6 hours of daily sedentary time had a 40 to 60 percent higher risk of heart failure and cardiovascular death compared to those who spent 8.2 to 9.4 hours a day.
“Our data supports the idea that it’s always better to sit less and move more to reduce your risk of heart disease. We also believe that avoiding too much sitting can reduce your risk of heart failure and cardiovascular death. This supports the idea that this is particularly important for reducing the risk of Dr. Shaan KhurshidCardiac electrophysiologists at Massachusetts General Hospital said in a news release.
Latest Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans For adults, we recommend at least 75 to 100 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise or 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise each week in addition to 2 days of strength-building exercise. However, even study participants who met aerobic exercise recommendations were not immune to the negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle. The researchers noted that exercise can largely reduce the risk of heart attack and atrial fibrillation, but only partially reduce the risk of death and heart failure.
Limitations of the study include the relatively short monitoring period. One week may not accurately capture participants’ long-term physical activity habits. Additionally, wrist-worn activity trackers can misclassify standing time as sitting time, the authors write. They plan to expand their research to study how sedentary behavior is associated with other diseases over long periods of time.
“While exercise is important, avoiding excessive sitting also appears to be separately important,” said the co-senior authors. Dr. Patrick Eleanorsaid in a news release, a cardiologist and co-director of the Corrigan Minehan Heart Center at Massachusetts General Hospital. “Our hope is that this research can empower patients and healthcare providers by providing another way to leverage exercise behavior to improve cardiovascular health.”
You don’t have to join a gym or stand all day to live a sedentary lifestyle. of american heart association recommends tips for incorporating more movement into your day.
- Set a timer. Avoid sitting for long periods of time and set a reminder to move around for 5 minutes every hour or 10 minutes every two hours.
- Be creative at home. Find other ways to get up and off the couch by taking a walk or doing a few push-ups between episodes of a TV show. Active household chores like vacuuming and cleaning up after dinner are also important.
- Don’t wait. Get into the habit of exercising right after work or school. Check out these videos What you can do from home!
- Find a form of exercise that you like. Try a workout that fits your personality and schedule. You’re more likely to stick with it.
- move more At work. Make it a habit to stand every time you make or answer a call, or add stretch breaks between workdays.
Learn more about overcoming sedentary behavior below.
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