Sitting for long periods has never been hailed as healthy, yet many people have relied on their workouts to counter the negative effects of being on their tush all day. However, recent research challenges this common assumption that regular workouts are the perfect antidote.
The study, which was recently published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, found that doing the recommended amount of moderate-to-vigorous exercise during the week probably isn't enough to counteract all of the cardiovascular risks of being sedentary for prolonged periods. Of course, there’s only so much you can do if you happen to have a desk job, making this health conundrum tricky to navigate.
Here's what the study uncovered, plus what cardiologists recommend doing if you have to sit for longer periods of time.
Meet the experts: Rigved Tadwalkar, MD, is a consultative cardiologist and medical director of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Center at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California. Christopher Berg, MD, is a cardiologist at MemorialCare Heart and Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California. Ragavendra Baliga, MBBS, is a cardiologist and professor of internal medicine at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
What The New Research Uncovered
For the study, researchers analyzed one week of activity tracker data collected from more than 89,500 people who participated in the U.K. Biobank, a longitudinal health study to assess how many hours people sat during the day and how much moderate to vigorous physical activity they achieved, and followed up across a decade.
The researchers then broke down the data to look at the associations between how much time people spent sitting during the week, along with their future risk of developing atrial fibrillation (an irregular heartbeat), heart attacks, heart failure, and death from cardiovascular causes.
After crunching the data, the researchers discovered that people who were sedentary had a higher risk of developing all of the cardiovascular issues just mentioned. But those who sat for more than 10.6 hours a day (not including when they were lying down asleep) had up to a 60 percent higher risk of developing heart failure or dying from a cardiovascular cause.
The research also determined that the risk of developing atrial fibrillation and heart attacks mostly was mitigated if the excessive sitters got the recommended 150 minutes (or more) moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week. But meeting the exercise requirement only partially offset the risk of heart failure and dying from a cardiovascular cause.
As a result, squeezing more standing time and movement into your day beyond your exercise window to break up prolonged periods of sitting seems to be vital. “Optimizing sedentary behavior appears to be important even among physically active individuals,” the researchers wrote.
Why Sitting Is So Harmful To Your Heart Health
This is hardly the first study to link sitting for hours and hours a day to serious health issues. Spending long periods of time sitting has been linked to a higher risk of developing obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer, in a number of studies. And the American Heart Association (AHA) recommends people spend less time sitting in their general guidelines to support heart health.
Here's why the heart gets the short end of the stick with too much couch time: “Lack of movement slows circulation, weakens the heart muscle, and contributes to weight gain, along with high blood pressure, and insulin resistance,” says Rigved Tadwalkar, MD, a consultative cardiologist and medical director of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Center at Providence Saint John’s Health Center. Sitting for longer periods of time may also raise the risk of bodily inflammation, which is linked to a slew of serious diseases.
And, yes, even super active individuals are in the danger zone. “Even those who exercise can be at risk if they are sedentary for most of the day,” Dr. Tadwalkar adds.
How To Tweak Your Daily Routine To Mitigate The Effects Of Sitting
Simply put: Watch the clock and sit for as little time per day as you can. "Limiting sedentary time to under 10.6 hours per day may be a practical baseline for improving heart health," says Ragavendra Baliga, MBBS, a cardiologist and professor of internal medicine at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
But you’re not screwed if you have a desk job. Doctors say it’s important to be aware of how much you’re moving throughout the day. If there's room for improvement, they always recommend being more active when and where you can.
“Getting active is one of the most important things people with heart disease or at risk of heart disease—which is everyone—can do to improve their heart health,” says Christopher Berg, MD, a cardiologist at MemorialCare Heart and Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Center.
He recommends having a regular exercise plan in place, and doing whatever you can to fit in at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity a week. If you’re not already working out consistently, Dr. Berg suggests committing to a smaller goal and working your way up. (Head here for sound advice on setting realistic and attainable workout goals.)
To supplement your regular workout routine, it's also essential to do what you can to squeeze in more micro movement pockets through your day, says Dr. Berg.
Some of his simple-yet-effective suggestions:
Take the stairs whenever you can.
Take a lap around your office or home when you find a moment during your workday.
Take the long way to and from the bathroom.
Use a standing desk.
Park farther away from store entrances to get in more steps.
Stand up and walk around when you need to be on a call.
Sneak little exercises into your day, like doing squats or jumping jacks.
Find small pockets of time to stand as much as possible before and after work, like having breakfast and dinner at a tall countertop.
Consider getting a fitness tracker to keep tabs on your step count and offer alerts and nudges to remind you to move.
“These are all small, easy actions that one can do to improve health,” Dr. Berg says.
Of course, if you have a family history of heart disease or are especially worried about your risk, it's a good idea to check in with a medical professional. They can give you an evaluation and suggest personalized next steps from there.
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