The average American spends around twenty-eight hours a week sitting at a desk. If you spend this much time at your desk, you will appreciate this study.
The American Journal of Epidemiology released a study that discovered participating in any kind of physical activity for as little as thirty minutes per day can reduce a person’s risk of early death. One out of four adults spend more than eight hours per day sitting. The results from this study can inspire working people to leave the computer and stretch on their lunch break. Lunch break is a great time to run those errands you’ve been putting off, too!
Researchers studied a total of 8,000 middle-aged and older adults. The selection of adults had already partaken in a study on strokes during the years 2009-2013. Participants wore activity monitors for at least four days. The monitors tracked the amount and intensity of their daily physical activity. Activity levels were compared to the death rate data of participants, which allowed researchers to deduce how moving more and sitting less could lessen the risk of early death.
The results showed physical activity of any intensity, even walking the block during lunch or using weights, offered serious health benefits. In fact, low intensity activity like stretching or taking a small walk could lower the risk of early death by 17 percent. Opting for more intense workouts such as jogging, swimming, SoulCycle, etc. more than doubled this. Even a thirty-minute jog can decrease your risk of early death by 35 percent. Researchers went even deeper, finding that even taking a couple minutes away from your desk is still beneficial.
Keith Diaz, PhD, assistant professor of behavioral medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons says “If you have a job or lifestyle that involves a lot of sitting, you can lower your risk of early death by moving more often, for as long as you want and as your ability allows—whether that means taking an hour-long high-intensity spin class or choosing lower-intensity activities, like walking.”
By Thomas Cox and Martha Kendall Custard
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