That Health Rules

A new study published at the Mayo Clinic Proceedings showed that being an office worker and sitting all day may not be good for your health at all.

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Objective
To determine the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and sedentary behavior, independent of exercise activity.

Patients and Methods
We included 2223 participants (aged 12-49 years; 1053 females [47%]) without known heart disease who had both cardiovascular fitness testing and at least 1 day of accelerometer data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003-2004. From accelerometer data, we quantified bouts of exercise as mean minutes per day for each participant. Sedentary time was defined as less than 100 counts per minute in mean minutes per day. Cardiorespiratory fitness was derived from a submaximal exercise treadmill test. Multivariable-adjusted linear regression analyses were performed with fitness as the dependent variable. Models were stratified by sex, adjusted for age, body mass index, and wear time, and included sedentary and exercise time.

Results
An additional hour of daily exercise activity time was associated with a 0.88 (0.37-1.39; P<.001) metabolic equivalent of task (MET) higher fitness for men and a 1.37 (0.43-2.31; P=.004) MET higher fitness for women. An additional hour of sedentary time was associated with a −0.12 (−0.02 to −0.22; P=.03) and a −0.24 (−0.10 to −0.38; P<.001) MET difference in fitness for men and women, respectively.

Conclusion
After adjustment for exercise activity, sedentary behavior appears to have an inverse association with fitness. These findings suggest that the risk related to sedentary behavior might be mediated, in part, through lower fitness levels.

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The study actually tells us interesting facts about prolonged sitting.  That for every hour we  spend sitting in our offices, it will reduce the gains of a daily workout by eight percent.  So it is suggested that we stand and walk in between our daily routine work sitting in our office tables.  One can use the break times to take short brisk walks around the building or to a vending machine and back as simple means to achieve the goal.

What is interesting in the study also is the fact that a daily dose of an hour of exercise can work wonders.  It can offset the bad effects of the six to seven hours of sitting. Perfect data for me!!!!

This is what I practice in my daily routine…..

As a physician, sitting all day listening to my patients is a routine.  I therefore interspersed my sitting times listening to their problems by simply standing up to do the physical examination. This is on top of my daily afternoon run and my daily morning weights and sit ups that totally make my day complete!

Perfect Combination of Sitting , Standing or just Simply MOVING!