Report:
There’s no way to sugarcoat it, so we won’t even try: All of that exercise you’re doing? Pretty much a waste of time if you’re sitting the rest of the day. The running, the spinning, the yoga? According to the American Heart Association, it may make you feel better, but it’s not making you any healthier.
“Regardless of how much physical activity someone gets, prolonged sedentary time could negatively impact the health of your heart and blood vessels,” said Dr. Deborah Rohm Young in the statement published in the journal Circulation.
She told the Daily News that people who are physically active and spend much of their day sitting are at greater risk than people wh are physically active and sit less. "We believe there are different biological mechanisms in place, but this hasn't been extensively studied yet," she said.
When you think about it, it makes sense. The same way you can’t stuff your face with Cheetos and Coke all day, then cancel it out with a salad? Yeah, well, the sweatiest SoulCycle session isn’t going to make up for sitting in front of a computer all day.
So what now?
“The best advice at this time is to ‘sit less and move more,’”,Young said.
Hmmm. Not exactly scientific. And yet, it could be helpful. It’s simple, elegant and easy to remember, even as we’re bombarded with mixed health messages every day. A Lancet report last month, for example, argued that exercising an hour or more a day could offset early death from sitting. But it didn’t say whether these people were healthy — just that they were still alive.
Sweat sessions are still important in cardiovascular health and maintaining a healthy weight, which is why the CDC recommends 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of rigorous exercise a week. And the AHA still wants you to work out — it just wants you to focus on getting off your seat more.
There's no magic number yet for how long it's OK to sit each day, or how frequently you should rise. "There's a lot of research that we need to do," admitted Dr. Young.
But the good news is that sitting less is easier than you might think. Sedentary behavior is defined as sitting, reclining or laying down while awake, as well as reading, watching television or working on the computer. So even just leisurely walking around, or doing your own housework instead of hiring a cleaner, will get you shaking a leg. The AHA has a number of smart ways to get off your butt, such as standing while talking on the phone, or brainstorming project ideas with a co-worker while taking a walk. You can also park at the furthest parking spot to make yourself walk a few extra steps, do yardwork, walk the dog or set an alarm to stand up and stretch for a minute or two every hour.
