According to a study published on Thursday in the journal of the American College of Sports Medicine, five minutes of light exercise every half hour can help reduce some of the danger associated with prolonged periods of sitting.
According to Keith Diaz, the study’s lead author and an assistant professor of behavioral medicine at Columbia University Medical Center, sitting can raise one’s chance of developing chronic illnesses including diabetes, heart disease, and some types of cancer. However, there haven’t been any explicit rules on how frequently and for how long you should move around.
Advantages of Regularly Walking
According to Diaz, the walk can be as sluggish as 1.9 miles per hour, which is slower than most people typically walk. Simply breaking up the sitting with some movement is the aim.
For this study, a number of health indicators were examined for various combinations of sitting and walking times. Despite the small sample size, the research was thorough and had a sound methodology, according to Matthew Buman, dean of Arizona State University’s College of Health Solutions. Buman did not take part in the research.
Although scientists are still unsure of the precise causes of sitting’s negative effects, the main assumption holds that muscles play a crucial role in controlling variables like blood sugar and cholesterol levels. However, when you sit for an extended period of time, your muscles are unable to contract and perform at their best, according to Diaz.
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Walking Makes You Lose Weight
So how many steps per day should you be taking to lose weight? According to current study, 8,600 is the magic number.
In a research that lasted four years and involved more than 6,000 patients, the US National Institutes of Health discovered that adults who walk at least 8,600 steps a day are less likely to gain weight.
Data indicates that adults tend to gain weight gradually into middle life, with the average person gaining one to two pounds annually.
Although that amount seems small, it can add up and cause obesity over time.
Lifestyle, nutrition, and sleeping patterns were all taken into account in the study.
Activity trackers were given to the participants, who wore them for at least 10 hours every day. Over a period of years, researchers examined that data.
It was shown that people who slept less than six hours a night and watched television for five hours or more per day were generally more likely to be overweight.
And when combined with the 8,600 steps, those with healthy eating habits—a high-fiber, low-fat diet—were statistically less likely to gain weight and more likely to have a drop in waist circumference.
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