How simple activity breaks can boost your health
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Read time: 4 minutes What’s your typical evening look like? If you’re like the majority (including me), it probably involves: Dinner, maybe some dessert, and a few hours on the couch. No doubt a good way to relax and “unwind”. But the problem is, extended sitting time plus excess food intake (both of which usually happens in the evening) isn’t a great combo for our health. The good news? Short and simple “activity breaks” can be enough to reduce the negative health effects of prolonged sitting and extra energy intake. And a recent study shows just how effective they can be during a “typical” evening. What’s the problem with too much sitting, anyway?This so-called “sedentary behaviour” is a major factor impacting our health. So what exactly is sedentary behaviour, you might wonder… It’s the time spent sitting or reclining while expending low amounts of energy. And we tend to do a lot of this - 5 to 11.5 hours per day on average, to be exact. Excess sedentary time increases our risk of early mortality and chronic diseases including:
Sedentary behaviour impacts basically every physiological system in the body: Clearly too much (interrupted) sitting is something we should avoid as much as we can. Is being sedentary different to being physically inactive?The answer is yes. Because it’s possible to be physically active but still spend lots of time sedentary. It’s easy to tick the box of exercising regularly, but then neglect your general activity levels when you’re not “working out”. I fall into this trap myself. A lot. So it’s important to not only move more, but to move often throughout the day. And even the simple things count:
It’s all a bit cliche, I know. But finding opportunities to move more often can make a big impact on your health - even if you do exercise regularly. Even short “activity breaks” can help. Short “activity breaks” to disrupt sedentary behaviourWhat happens when typical evening sedentary time is interrupted by short bursts of activity? The authors of a 2024 study posed this exact question. On two occasions, they had young adults (aged about 25) come into a lab at about 5:00 pm. They had a standardised dinner (beef curry, rice, naan, and margarine) upon arrival, followed by dessert (boysenberry slice) 2 hours later. On one visit, the participants simply sat down for 4 hours (akin to a typical Netflix binge session). But on the other, this sedentary time was interrupted by 3-minute “exercise snacks” every 30 minutes. Each “exercise snack” included 3 exercises:
These exercises were performed for 20 seconds each, and for 3 rounds in total. So what impact did these “exercise snacks” have? The metabolic benefits of "snacking" on exerciseOne of the major health impacts of sedentary behaviour is how it can worsen the impact of energy intake on our health. We’re talking markers of metabolic health, including things like blood levels of:
Any intervention that reduces these markers could improve your metabolic health. And here’s the cool thing: The study found the short “exercise snacks” reduced blood glucose and insulin responses over the 4 hours - by a whopping 32% and 26%, respectively. These effects are important because in the evening, the average adult spends a lot of time sitting AND consumes up to almost half their daily energy. But do similar activity breaks also work during the day? Regular activity breaks, such as light walking or simple resistance exercises, can also improve metabolic health markers during longer periods of sitting (e.g., 8 hours) - much like a typical day in the office (or when working from home). What’s more, these benefits persist overnight until the next morning. The take home is that simple movement matters when done often and in the context of sedentary behaviour. BUT surely regular exercise offsets lots of sitting time?It’s tempting to think sitting a lot doesn’t matter if you exercise regularly. But sedentary behaviour can actually blunt some of the short-term benefits of exercise. One study found those who did either 2500 or 5000 steps per day for 2 days had more negative metabolic responses to food intake (increased blood triglycerides and reduced whole-body fat use) versus those who’d done 8,500 steps per day. Although extended bed rest is an extreme example of sedentary behaviour, exercising at levels above the physical activity guidelines during isn’t enough to completely offset its negative effects. So what's this all point to? Being sedentary impacts your health independently of how much you exercise. This means the message of “exercise more” should really be: “Sit less, move more, and exercise”. Wait…I know what you’re thinkingIt’s hard enough to exercise regularly. And now I’m saying you need to do more? The truth is, regular exercise is “enough” - certainly compared to no exercise. But sedentary time impacts your health independently of how much you exercise. So it’s best to break up long periods of sitting or lying with movement. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Keep it simple and do it often. And it could dramatically benefit your health. As always, I appreciate you being here! Until next week, Jackson If you've got a moment, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this edition of The Weekly Exerciser. Send me a quick message or email - I'll reply to every one! PS: Did someone forward you this email? You can sign up to The Weekly Exerciser here. IMPORTANT:The information contained herein is of general nature only and does not constitute personal advice. You should not act on any information without considering your personal needs, circumstances, and objectives. Any exercise program may result in injury. We recommend you obtain advice specific to your circumstances from an appropriate health professional before starting any exercise program. |
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