Sitting All Day? How Much Should You Exercise?
There is no shortage of scientific research to tell you that a sedentary lifestyle—one that involves little to no physical activity—is detrimental to everything from our mental wellbeing to physical health to overall longevity. In fact, besides endowing you with all kinds of immediate aches and pains, sedentary behaviors and physical inactivity are some of the leading factors around the world for cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality. Even for people who are relatively active, prolonged periods spent sitting—whether from desk-bound work days or lazy weekends in front of the TV—can chip away at the benefits of their healthy choices.
But before you panic and start working your nine-to-five from the treadmill in the attic, there’s good news. It is possible to help counterbalance some of the health risks associated with sitting for hours (and hours) with a regular and attainable amount of movement. A massive meta-analysis published in the British Journal of Medicine seems to have found the daily exercise sweet spot required to offset the negative impact of 10 hours of sitting.
Excerpted from Real Simple
