For the good of our physical and mental health , most of us should be exercising and sleeping more and spending less time slumped in our chairs. But the data shows we’re not. Our sedentary lifestyles mean we clock up too many hours sedentary (around nine hours a day, once you factor in commuting, working at desks and sitting on the sofa) and too little time moving, to the detriment of our bodies.
But exercise researchers in Australia believe they have uncovered how to spur us to get out of our seats – by pinpointing exactly how long we should spend sitting, standing, exercising and sleeping every day to protect our hearts. Sitting Recommended: Six hours and 10 minutes Previously, no one had put a cap on how much of our day we should spend sitting, though the UK’s chief medical officers have warned that prolonged seating is risky . Now, researchers from the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne claim to have found the sweet spot.
They examined data on around 2,400 people in the Netherlands, aged 40 to 75, who wore activity trackers for a week and had a health check-up. The team then fed this data into an algorithm that calculated the “optimal” duration people should dedicate to different activities for the lowest risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Results show six hours and 10 minutes is the “Goldilocks” for sitting – much less than the nine-hour average clocked up by participants and people in the UK.
“This identifies a target for people to.
