The general daily recommendation:
An average of 10,000 steps or 5 miles of walking per day (Bumgardner, 2021).
Standing to sitting ratio of about 2:1 (UW, 2020).
The extensive amount of time individuals who work desk jobs spend sitting, increases their risk for health issues, if they do make time for movement and standing up, before, during, and after work. Initiatives to move throughout the day, even in small doses, have long lasting positive effects (MedLine, 2021).
Breaking up long periods of sitting with a couple minutes of standing or walking throughout the day burns calories to avoid weight gain, and helps blood flow, digestion, bone and muscle strength, lift mood, and relieve stress (Harvard Health, 2020).
Negative health effects from being too sedentary are obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol, stroke, osteoporosis, anxiety, and depression (MedLine).
So, how much movement is recommended? In an article by Science Daily (2017), Dr. Tigbe explains that people who have zero risk for heart disease are walking around 7 miles a day or standing about 7 hours (Science Daily, 2017). An article by Harvard Health Publishing (2020) explains that people should break up their long periods of sitting, even
with just a simple 1-3 minutes of walking every hour (Harvard Health, 2020).
Factors that impact daily movement amounts can include; having children at home, commuting to work, amount of walking around the workplace that your job requires, if you stand in meetings/ presentations or sit, if you have a dog, and how big your favorite grocery store is.
If you are in need of getting more movement to improve your health there are small ways you can add in more walking and standing such as, taking a 5-10 minute walk at lunch, standing while you talk on the phone, using the stairs, and parking further away than necessary (MedLine, 2021).
For more information, see these references.
Comments