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Just 1 Hour of Moderate Exercise Counters Health Risks of Sitting For 8-Hour Work Day

Based on a meta-analysis of 16 studies with data from over a million men and women.

| 3 min read

Based on a meta-analysis of 16 studies with data from over a million men and women.

According to the researchers in a new study, recent estimates have found that over 5 million people around the world die annually as a result of failing to complete the recommended daily activity levels.

With many people working 8+ hours a day, it can be tough to muster up the energy after a busy work day to make time for exercise. However, a meta-analysis published in The Lancet argues that just one hour of moderate exercise can counter the increased risk of death associated with a sedentary lifestyle.

SEE ALSO: One Minute of Intense Exercise Produces Similar Results to Longer Workouts, Study Finds

"For many people who commute to work and have office-based jobs, there is no way to escape sitting for prolonged periods of time,” Professor Ulf Ekelund, from the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, said in a press statement. “For these people in particular, we cannot stress enough the importance of getting exercise, whether it's getting out for a walk at lunchtime, going for a run in the morning or cycling to work.

“An hour of physical activity per day is the ideal, but if this is unmanageable, then at least doing some exercise each day can help reduce the risk,” he continued.

The research team looked at a total of 16 studies, including data from over one million men and women. The study participants were grouped into four quartiles based on their levels of moderate intensity physical activity — ranging from less than 5 minutes per day to over 60 minutes per day. The researchers defined moderate exercise as walking at a pace of 3.5 miles per hour or cycling at 10 miles per hour, for instance.

According to the findings, just 60 to 75 minutes of moderate intensity exercise a day was enough to eliminate the increased risk of early death associated with sitting for eight or more hours a day.

However, about three out of four people in the study failed to complete this level of daily activity.

The highest risk was found among the individuals who were physically inactive, regardless of the amount of time they spent sitting around each day. Members of this group, scoring in the least active quartile, were between 28 and 59 percent more likely to die early than those who scored in the most active quartile — the researchers say this risk is similar to that associated with smoking and obesity, positioning lack of physical activity as an even greater health risk than prolonged sitting.

Importantly, the authors note that there were some limitations to the data, but the strengths of their “harmonized” data analysis approach outweigh these limitations, they believe. In an approach that had never been done before for a study of this size, the team reanalyzed the data from all included studies in a harmonized manner, creating a more uniform platform with which to comb out more robust estimates.

"There has been a lot of concern about the health risks associated with today's more sedentary lifestyles," Ekelund said. "Our message is a positive one: it is possible to reduce -- or even eliminate -- these risks if we are active enough, even without having to take up sports or go to the gym.”

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