This Is How Much Exercise It ACTUALLY Takes to Make Up for Sitting All Day
Whether you work at a desk or are a Netflix binge-watching fanatic (no judgement here, natch), sitting all day isn’t exactly the best thing for your bod. We all know that a good stretch at your desk will help prevent stiffness and that you’re supposed to get up and move your butt around every half hour or so, but when you’re five episodes into your Gilmore Girls re-watch (or are just watching the new Gilmore Girls trailer over and over again), it can be easy to forget to take the occasional walk. In order to avoid any nasty side-effects of long spans of sitting, though, you’ll be thrilled to know that the exercise needed is totally doable.
Ulf Ekelund, of the Norwegian School of Sports Science and the University of Cambridge, assures us that this “message is a positive one.” Why’s that? Because it’s totally manageable. “It is possible to reduce, or even eliminate [risks of health problems like heart attacks, kidney diseases, chronic diseases and colorectal cancer] if we are active enough, even without having to take up sports or go to the gym.”
Not that we don’t love sports or heading to the gym, but since we don’t always have time to jump into a pick-up game or the energy to run miles on the treadmill, this is definitely good news.
So what will it take? Just an hour of moderate activity per day will do the trick. That’s right, go for a brisk walk, take a bike ride around your neighborhood or bring together a baseball game with your besties to get your bod back on track. Piece of cake!
Do you work at a desk or find yourself sitting for long stretches? Tweet us @BritandCo!