It's important to stay active, but how many hours should you spend sitting, standing, or exercising? This new study has the answer. read.
One of the golden rules for breaking a sedentary lifestyle is to become more physically active. In modern times, health concerns and heart attacks are on the rise. To combat the pain of sitting for long periods of time, it is essential to exercise more and eat a healthy, nutritious diet. But how much time should we allocate to physical activity? How much time should we be standing or sitting? A new Australian study provides answers to these questions.
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To achieve optimal health, a person's ideal day should include at least four hours of physical activity, including exercise of light, moderate, or vigorous intensity, and at least eight hours of sleep. there is. According to the researchers, mild exercise can range from doing housework to making dinner, while moderate-intensity exercise includes more deliberate movements, such as a brisk walk or a workout at the gym.
- 4 hours of physical activity
- 8 hours sleep
- sit for 6 hours
- 5 hours of standing work
An international team led by Australia's Swinburne University of Technology analyzed the behavior of more than 2,000 people over a 24-hour day to determine the right combination of sitting, sleeping, standing and physical activity for desirable health. Did.
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Christian Brakenridge, from Swinburne University of Technology's Center for Urban Migration, said: “This breakdown covers a wide range of health indicators and concentrates on 24-hour periods that are associated with overall optimal health.” .
“There will be different levels for different health markers, from waist circumference to fasting blood sugar,” added Brakenridge, who is also lead author of the study published in the journal Diabetologia.
For example, researchers found that replacing time spent sitting with increased time spent doing physical activity and light exercise resulted in more beneficial blood sugar levels in people with diabetes than in people without diabetes.
The findings also acknowledged how replacing one activity with another can impact an individual's overall day. “Sleep can be detrimental to health if it replaces exercise time, but beneficial if it replaces sedentary behavior,” Brekenridge explained.
But even if exercise is more beneficial, he says, how you spend your time must be realistic and balanced. “While people may advocate spending more time exercising, 10 hours of exercise and zero hours of sitting is not realistic,” the researchers said.
Published: May 2, 2024 11:30 AM IST
Updated: May 2, 2024, 11:30 AM IST