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High amounts of sedentary behaviour such as having an office job or spending time sat watching films and tv have been associated with increased risks of several chronic conditions and mortality.
However, it is unclear whether physical exercise attenuates or even eliminates the detrimental effects of prolonged sitting.
Key Point
If you are Sedentary for 6, 7 or 8+ hours a day you need at least 60 to 75 minutes of moderate physical exercise a day to combat what being sedentary does to your body
High levels of moderate intensity physical activity (ie, around 60–75 min per day) seem to eliminate the increased risk of death associated with high sitting time. However, this high activity level attenuates, but does not eliminate the increased risk associated with high TV-viewing time.
This is further evidence on the benefits of physical activity even when sedentary for long periods of time.
So the good news is if you have an sedentary job it’s not all doom and gloom, you can reverse the health damage it maybe causing to your body by exercise for about an hour a day.
If you want further reading on this see below...
- Does physical activity attenuate, or even eliminate, the detrimental association of sitting time with mortality? A harmonised meta-analysis of data from more than 1 million men and women
Ekelund, Ulf et al.
The Lancet , Volume 388 , Issue 10051 , 1302 - 1310