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Even Small Amounts Of This Lead To Big Changes
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Another study, from the American College of Sports Medicine found that, even if you are training like the dickens after work, if you are spending time sitting behind a desk without taking walking breaks, or if you are spending 4 or 5 hours watching those “Breaking Bad” reruns at night, you are still endangering your health.
Sitting for long periods of time, is distinctly different from exercise and one does not cancel out the other.
It’s important that you break up those hours spent sitting by standing up and walking around or getting some other type of exercise. This doesn’t mean that you can’t watch television or play Mario Kart, but you need to get up every 30 minutes or so and spend at least 5 minutes walking or getting some other type of exercise (jumping jacks, running in place, etc.).
The reason that sitting for long periods is so bad for your health is not completely understood. However, study after study shows that sitting for long periods (and yes, this includes lying in bed) had very poor long-term mortality outcomes.
This same study found that, not surprisingly, those who took more frequent breaks had lower triglyceride levels, lower weight levels, smaller waists, and lower body mass indexes.
Researchers recommend that you get up off your fat for at least 5 minutes for every 30 minutes or 10 minutes for every 60 minutes that you spend sitting. This really isn’t that hard to do and those small amounts of exercise really add up.
Try putting your treadmill in the same room as the television and walk during commercial breaks or walk during the last (or first) 10 minutes of every program you watch. Set the timer on your cell phone to go off every hour to remind you to get up and move.
At work, pace whenever you are on the phone, set a timer to remind you to get up, walk down the hall to get coffee, to get some water, to go to the bathroom, and spend an extra few minutes walking up and down the hall or up and down the stairs or just down to the end of the block and back, whatever your particular situation will allow.
It all boils down to getting up and moving that booty for just a few minutes every hour when you must spend time sitting.
READ ALSO: This One Thing You Do Every Day Prolongs Your Life When You Do It Right
By the way, the same goes for long car or airplane trips. Get up and try to walk a bit or take a break to stretch your legs and get at least a few minutes of movement time to prevent blood clots and to keep your cardiovascular system happy and healthy.
Time to take a stroll down the street. See you for the next article.
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