Walking After Prolonged Sitting
Walk 5 minutes for every 30 sitting minutes.
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Most know prolonged sitting is bad for health, but what are the options when you need to sit for your job? The answer: 5 minutes of walking for every 30 minutes of sitting. Columbia University researchers in New York City compared the physiological and mental effects from five different movement patterns. Participants walked either 1 or 5 minutes after prolonged sitting for either 30 or 60 minutes. A control group didn’t walk.
Researchers concluded that the 5 for every 30 ratio was ideal based on improvements in blood pressure, blood sugar, mood and fatigue. “What we know now is that for optimal health, you need to move regularly at work, in addition to a daily exercise routine,” said study author and principal investigator Keith Diaz, PhD, associate professor of behavioral medicine at Columbia University Medical Center and director of the Exercise Testing Laboratory in the Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health.
The study is available in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (2023; doi:10.1249/MSS.000000 0000003109).
See also: Update on Prolonged Sitting
Shirley Eichenberger-Archer, JD, MA
Shirley Archer, JD, MA, is an internationally acknowledged integrative health and mindfulness specialist, best-selling author of 16 fitness and wellness books translated into multiple languages and sold worldwide, award-winning health journalist, contributing editor to Fitness Journal, media spokesperson, and IDEA's 2008 Fitness Instructor of the Year. She's a 25-year industry veteran and former health and fitness educator at the Stanford Prevention Research Center, who has served on multiple industry committees and co-authored trade books and manuals for ACE, ACSM and YMCA of the USA. She has appeared on TV worldwide and was a featured trainer on America's Next Top Model.
