Running for less than 30 minutes a day may not be enough to help you qualify for Boston (depending on variuos factors), but that certainly doesn’t mean it’s not beneficial to your health. Recent research suggests engaging in just 22 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (such as easy running) can help counterbalance the negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle.
The dangers of prolonged sitting
Many of us spend a large portion of our day sitting, whether that’s in front of our computers at work, driving in our cars or unwinding on the couch at the end of the day. There’s no doubt that over time, we’ve become much more sedentary as a society, and this very inactive lifestyle is having a significant impact on our health.
According to the study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, spending more than 12 hours a day sitting can increase the risk of early death by 38 per cent for people aged 50 and over. Not surprisingly, reducing the number of hours you sit will improve your health and lower your risk of death, but for individuals who commute to their desk jobs, a certain amount of sitting is unavoidable.
The good news is, the researchers determined that even for those who sit for long periods throughout the day, just 22 minutes of exercise can dramatically reduce the risk of early death.
The study
To perform the study, researchers tracked nearly 12,000 people wearing movement detection devices for 10 hours per day. Half the participants were women and half were men, and came from Norway, Sweden and the U.S.
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