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We know that spending hours sitting is not good for us, but how much exercise is needed to counter the negative health impact of a day of prolonged sitting?
A 2020 study suggests that up to 40 minutes of “moderate to vigorous physical activity” each day is the right amount to balance 10 hours of still sitting – although no amount of exercise or even just standing helps. in a certain way.
It is based on a meta-analysis of nine previous studies, which included a total of 44,370 people in four different countries who wore some form of fitness tracker.
The analysis found that the risk of death in people with a more sedentary lifestyle increased as the time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity decreased.
Writing in the British Journal of Sports Medicine (BJSM) in 2020, researchers wrote: “In active people who get about 30 to 40 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity, the association between prolonged sitting time and risk death rate is not significantly different from those who spend less time sitting. ”
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In other words, doing a reasonably strenuous activity – such as biking, brisk walking, and gardening – can lower the risk of premature death to what it would have been if you hadn’t done everything while sitting, walking, and walking. so much so that the association can be seen in the data collected for several thousand people.
While meta-analyzes like this always require a detailed correlation of points between separate studies with different volunteers, time frames, and conditions, the advantage of this particular research is that it relied on relatively objective data from portable devices – not on self-reported data by participants. .
The study was published alongside the publication of the 2020 WHO Global Guidelines on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior, developed by 40 scientists on six continents. In November 2020, the BJSM released a special edition to conduct the new study and updated guidelines.
“This advice is timely, given that we are in the midst of a global pandemic, which has left people confined to their homes for long periods of time and encouraged an increase in sedentary behavior,” said Emmanuel Stamatakis, researcher in physical activity and population health, University of Sydney.
“People can still protect their health and compensate for the harmful effects of physical inactivity,” says Stamatakis, who was not involved in the meta-analysis but is co-editor of the BJSM. “As these guidelines point out, every physical activity is important and any amount is better than nothing.”
Research based on fitness trackers is broadly in line with new World Health Organization guidelines, which recommend 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous physical activity each week to counter sedentary behaviors. .
“Although the new guidelines reflect the best scientific data available, there are still gaps in our knowledge,” Stamatakis said. “We still don’t know, for example, what exactly the criterion for ‘excessive sitting’ is. A rapidly evolving area of research, we hope to have answers within a few years.”
Source: Scientific alert
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