We know that a sedentary lifestyle is the enemy of our health, and concerns 95% of the French population! But when you work on a computer all day, it’s hard to be truly mobile… Not to mention the recommended 10,000 steps per day, all the more complicated to achieve since teleworking has taken hold.
Columbia researchers studied a group of 11 volunteers to suggest a simple and accessible program to break sedentary lifestyle at work. Their results were reported by The worldand published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.
The guinea pigs were recruited between 40 and 60 years old, they were all in good health. For 5 days, they were asked to sit on a chair for 8 hours, doing pretty much whatever they wanted. They were followed in their diet, and all natural movements (going to the toilet for example, their various and varied movements). And tests were carried out: they were initially asked not to walk at all during the day, then they were allowed to walk for one minute every half hour, then we increased the duration as the exercise progressed, until we reached 5 minutes per hour.
Nothing easier to apply
Their blood sugar and blood pressure were taken regularly, and we tried to find out what frequency of walking would give the best results, in order to reduce cardiometabolic risks. Clearly, sitting all day is the one that showed the poorest results. Conversely, the last exercise: walking 5 minutes per hour was very satisfying. Participants saw their peak blood sugar levels drop by 58% compared to sitting for 8 hours, the researchers note. At the same time, the guinea pigs were in a better mood by stretching their legs in this way.
Metabolic disorders appear very quickly with a sedentary lifestyle, recalls Le Monde, according to the statements of a CNRS researcher: in just a few days, the body of healthy people reproduces mechanisms observed in people who suffer from diabetes or obesity. But it is quite possible to fight against the deleterious effects of a sedentary lifestyle: according to this study, it is enough to walk 5 minutes per hour.
Source: Breaking Up Prolonged Sitting to Improve Cardiometabolic Risk: Dose-Response Analysis of a Randomized Cross-Over Trial, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, January 12, 2023.
