Are you an “active couch potato?”
First, let’s define sedentary for those of you who may not be familiar with the word. Sedentary behavior is behavior characterized by a lot of sitting and little physical exercise.
We think it’s fair to guess that we all understand that sedentary behaviors can have a negative impact on our health. Research indicates that being sedentary is associated with increased risks of the following:
All-cause mortality
Cardiovascular disease
Cancer
Diabetes
Hypertension
Elevated cholesterol & triglycerides
Reduced bone mineral density
Depression
Cognitive impairments
If you’re reading this, we’re guessing you enjoy being active (or are striving to be) - great, us too!
So what is an “active couch potato?”
An “active couch potato” is someone who meets the weekly recommended health guidelines for physical activity, yet still spends much of their day sitting.
Reminder: the US defines this as 150-300 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per week OR 75-150 minutes of vigorous intensity physical activity per week).
Various studies since 2010 have researched active couch potatoes. In these studies sitting activities included sitting for work, watching TV, smartphone use, and commuting.
Why care if you’re an “active couch potato?”
Recent research suggests that exercise may not cancel out all the effects of prolonged sitting. In 2022 researchers found that blood sugar, cholesterol and body fat were elevated in a male and female active couch potatoes.
A 2019 study found that being inactive for a majority of the day negates some of the health benefits someone would normally get from a 1 hour bout of vigorous exercises, including otherwise expected improvements in lipid levels, glucose and insulin metabolism.
What about this whole “shoot for 10,000 steps per day” recommendation?
We assume that a lot of folks have heard the recommendation for “walk 10,000 steps per day”. Let’s set the record straight on this - it wasn’t based on science. In fact it appears it was a number used to help market a pedometer in the 1960’s.
The average American walks approximately 3,000-4,000 steps per day, which correlates to 1.5-2 miles. Walking less than 5,000 steps per day is considered sedentary. A meta-analysis in 2022 found that adults over 60 reduce mortality when walking 6,000-8,000 steps/day and folks under 60 at 8,000-10,000 steps/day.
To combat “exercise resistance” researchers recommend taking 8,500 steps/day. Or if you enjoy bicycle sprints, the same researchers found that doing 4 sec bicycle sprints, 5x/hour, during an 8 hour seated work day also did the trick! Phewww…
Note: “exercise resistance” is a phenomenon believed to occur if overall daily activity levels are too low, even if you exercise during the day, and the body becomes less efficient at “burning” (i.e., metabolizing) fat, causing more of it to be stored.
If you can achieve 10,000 steps per day - awesome. This might be a huge undertaking for some people and you’ll need to start smaller and gradually build yourself up.
We’d like to point out that if you have a physical job and you average 10,000 steps or more during your work day that your numbers might need to be higher and/or consider incorporating other areas of exercise into your weekly routines that involve resistance training, flexibility, etc.
The good news?
It has been shown that active adults, defined as those who performed a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate activity per week, can gain additional cardiovascular and metabolic health benefits by substituting sedentary time with light physical activity. And if you sit >8 hours a day, participating in a minimum of 60-75 minutes of moderate physical activities a day can negate your risk of mortality. Source
Another study found that higher numbers of seated breaks were associated with positive effects on triglyceride levels, plasma glucose levels and waist circumferences, regardless of subjects’ time spent performing moderate-to-vigorous intensity activity time.
Here some of our favorite ways to incorporate more light movement into your day:
Take walking meetings
Take the stairs
Set an alarm on your watch/phone/computer to remind you to move every 30-45 minutes. Go to the bathroom, printer, water cooler, or chat with your co-worker instead of emailing them!
Consider getting a standing or treadmill desk
Walk more as part of your commute
Track your steps with a device
To put it into perspective, if you substituted two hours of sedentary time/day with varied movements, you would expend approximately the energy associated with walking 30 minutes. Source
In summary…
Do your best to stay moving throughout the day and attempt to achieve >7,000 steps per day!
Thanks for reading!
THE BURLINGTON PT TEAM