How to help office workers reduce the harmful effects of sitting too much

While you are sitting at work, stand up often, walk around, do some stretching exercises, or even dance to music. This will help you be more active and reduce your risk of health problems.

According to health experts, sitting too much and not exercising enough will affect blood circulation in the body and lead to a number of chronic diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, etc., and even premature death.

Scientists recommend that while sitting at work, you should regularly stand up, walk or move around to reduce the risk of health problems.

Sitting too much and not moving enough will affect your health a lot.

The European Heart Journal published a study on November 16 on the effectiveness of some light activities that can help office workers and people who often sit at work to reduce the harmful effects of sitting too much.

Swap 30 minutes of sitting for 30 minutes of sleeping

To avoid sitting too much, try to replace it with anything else, including lying down and… sleeping.

According to research, replacing 30 minutes of sitting with 30 minutes of sleeping every day can help you reduce your waistline and lower your body mass index (BMI). (But be careful to get enough sleep, not too much).

“If you ask me, is a nap better than sitting on the couch, snacking, and watching TV? My answer is yes, because a lot of people are really sleep deprived,” said Andrew Freeman, MD, director of Preventive Cardiology and Wellness at the Jewish Health Center in Denver .

“Eating a healthy diet, exercising, keeping a positive attitude and getting enough sleep are all effective ways to reduce your risk of heart disease,” adds Dr. Freeman .

Swap 30 minutes of snacking and watching TV for 30 minutes of sleeping every day.

Walking and light activities

Research has also shown similar benefits in weight loss and waist circumference in people who replace 30 minutes of sitting with standing time or light activity such as walking.

“Replacing sedentary behaviors with any activity can improve BMI, waist circumference, cholesterol, and triglycerides,” the authors state .

Research shows the positive benefits of moving. When you do half an hour of moderate-to-vigorous exercise instead of sitting, you're likely to lose more than a pound (0.63 kg/m2) and get rid of about an inch (2.4 cm) of fat around your waist.

“Being active is obviously beneficial for cardiovascular health, ” said senior co-author Mark Hamer, Clinical Professor in the Department of Sport, Exercise and Health at University College London. “However, what is new in this study is that it looks at a range of behaviours across a 24-hour day, allowing us to make personalised recommendations to help people in ways that are right for them.”

Physical activity is still the most effective

A team of researchers at University College London along with researchers in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Spain, the Netherlands, the UK and the US analyzed the results of six studies and found interesting results.

While research suggests that swapping sitting for sleeping improves health, the benefits are mixed. Sleeping may help improve BMI and waist circumference, but “it has a negligible effect on cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood sugar.”

However, high-intensity activities such as jogging, cycling, playing sports, etc. will bring much more significant benefits.

After applying the physical activity test to a 54-year-old woman with an average BMI of 26.5, the authors concluded: “A 30-minute change resulted in a 0.64 decrease in BMI, a difference of 2.4%.”

Doing some stretching exercises every day can help you reduce the risks of sitting too much.

“Replacing 30 minutes of sitting or lying down every day with moderate or vigorous exercise can reduce waist circumference by 2.5cm (2.7%) and reduce glycated hemoglobin (an average measure of blood sugar over three months) by 1.33 mmol/mol (3.6%).”

“We found that although small changes to the way you move every day will have a positive impact on your health, the intensity of your activity is important,” said Jo Blodgett, a researcher at the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health at University College London.

Apply “activity snacks”

“Activity snacks” is a term used to describe short, focused, repetitive activities that are part of a daily routine. This is an effective way to help the body stay motivated and reduce the negative effects of sitting for long periods of time.

James Leiper, Associate Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation, stressed that activities should be chosen based on personal interests so that they can be maintained as a habit over the long term.

"Any activity that gets your heart rate up can help, " Leiper adds . "Try taking a walk while you're on the phone, or set a timer to get up and do some movement every hour. These are all great ways to create a healthy, active lifestyle."

A study published in January 2023 found that even getting up and moving for five minutes every hour can help. The results showed that just one minute of walking every hour helped lower blood pressure in study participants.

“For work environments that don't have many breaks, you don't necessarily have to leave your desk. Just practicing "box-squats" by standing up and sitting down gently, repeating many times is also very effective," shared Dana Santas, a trainer for professional athletes.

You can even dance to a tune right at your desk. Pick your favorite song, put on your headphones, and stand up and dance for about 3 minutes. This will not only help your body relax but also make you feel much more excited to continue working, Santas advises.