By Lisa Leath-Turpin, Health & Wellness Coach
Annually observed since 1983, The President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition highlights the entire month of May to raise awareness and encourage participation in physical activities while promoting the benefits of being active.
The benefits speak loud and clear that our bodies are made to move. Counting our daily steps has become the big “thing” as we get more proficient with our wearable fitness tech and apps. Science shows that aiming for 7,000 to 8,000 steps a day is the sweet spot for lowering the risk of disease and premature death. Walking has no cost, no equipment and availability is everywhere… even in the workplace.
People with desk jobs or that sit for long periods of time are at risk for heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, dementia, fatigue, inflammation, certain types of cancer, high blood pressure and “dead butt” syndrome (where your glutes forget how to work and hip flexors shorten). Dead butt syndrome causes a slew of alignment and nerve issues. One small study concludes getting up for movement/walking for five minutes every 30 minutes can help significantly with the above sedentary issues.
Another study published in The Journal of American College of Cardiology 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. According to the article, 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 study also showed that getting the prescribed 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise a week suggested by The American College of Sports Medicine helps but going beyond your regular workout, adding the habit of moving more throughout the day (5 min / 30 min) is VITAL to the equation, such as suggested by the other study. It was noted that it appears even active individuals that hit the gym regularly can be affected by sitting too long and need this extra hourly movement to ward off the harmful side effects of sitting.
I hope this encourages you to get up and get moving! Remember that physical activity significantly enhances your mood, levels out hormones and improves your sleep. If you have the ability, why would you risk losing it? Be Active, Stay Active!
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