Moderate Exercise Isn't Enough to Offset Sitting All Day, Study Says

If you sit for most of the day, even moderate exercise may not undo the health risks of prolonged sitting, according to a new study published in the journalPLoS ONE.

The study included people ages 28 to 49 who, on average, spend more than 8.5 hours sitting each day. Even when participants met the recommended 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week, they still had higher levels of body mass index (BMI) and elevated total cholesterol.

However, those who spent 30 minutesper day doing vigorous exercise—such as running, playing basketball, or swimming laps—had cholesterol levels similar to those of sedentary people five years younger.

For younger adults, vigorous activities seem to be the most helpful in offsetting the harms of extended sitting, saidRyan Bruellman, MS, an author of the study and a doctoral candidate in the Department of Genetics, Genomics, and Bioinformatics at UC Riverside.

Sitting for too long is not only bad for your back, but it may also speed up the aging process.

“When you don’t move all day, your muscles don’t do the job they’re supposed to do in terms of helping to remove blood sugar and helping to break down fats in the blood,”Keith Diaz, PhD, a certified exercise physiologist and an associate professor of behavioral medicine at Columbia University Medical Center, told Verywell.

People who spend their day sitting behind a desk have a 16% higher chance of death and a 34% higher risk of heart disease compared to those who are more active at work, according to a study published inJAMA Network Open.

One in four American adults sit at least eight hours each day.If you fall into this group, what can you do to reduce the risks that come with sitting most of the day?

Is Walking on a Treadmill While Working Right for You?

Watch How Long You’re Sitting Every Day

Exercise is important, but reducing sitting time is key to cutting down on the risks that come with sedentary behavior. A study published in theJournal of the American Heart Associationfound that older women who sat for 11 to 12 hours per day still had a high risk for heart disease and death even if they were physically active.

“Individuals can be both highly active and highly sedentary. For example, someone could walk or run or go to the gym every day but still sit for more than 10 hours per day across work and leisure time,” saidSteve Nguyen, PhD, MPH, a postdoctoral scholar at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at UC San Diego and first author of the study.

It’s not always easy to get up from your desk. But, when possible, try working movement breaks into your routine. Stand up and move around while on the phone, plan walking meetings with colleagues, or consider a treadmill or cycle desk.

“Sedentary behavior is definitely something we should try to reduce,” Nguyen said.

What Happens to the Body After Sitting Down for Too Long?

Take a One-Minute Walk Every Hour

Standing desks might seem like a good solution to sitting all day, but standing for too long might also come with risks, according to a recent study published in theInternational Journal of Epidemiology.

That study found that standing instead of sitting won’t necessarily decrease heart disease risk. It could actually increase the chance of varicose veins or orthostatic hypotension (low blood pressure that causes dizziness and fainting).

“You have to find a way to move during your day. We know without a doubt that movement is healthier than sitting. So if you’re looking to do something, try to break up your sitting time with some walking, not standing,” Diaz said.

Getting up from your desk and taking a light five-minute walk every half hour has benefits for blood sugar and blood pressure, according to a study Diaz conducted last year.

8 Ways to Reduce Eye Strain While Working From Home

What This Means For You

7 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Bruellman R, Pahlen S, Ellingson JM, Corley RP, Wadsworth SJ, Reynolds CA.A twin-driven analysis on early aging biomarkers and associations with sitting-time and physical activity.PLoS One. 2024;19(9):e0308660. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0308660Baradaran Mahdavi S, Riahi R, Vahdatpour B, Kelishadi R.Association between sedentary behavior and low back pain; a systematic review and meta-analysis.Health Promot Perspect. 2021;11(4):393-410. doi:10.34172/hpp.2021.50Gao W, Sanna M, Chen YH, Tsai MK, Wen CP.Occupational sitting time, leisure physical activity, and all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality.JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(1):e2350680. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.50680Ussery EN, Fulton JE, Galuska DA, Katzmarzyk PT, Carlson SA.Joint prevalence of sitting time and leisure-time physical activity among US adults, 2015-2016.JAMA. 2018;320(19):2036. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.17797Nguyen S, Bellettiere J, Anuskiewicz B, et al.Prospective associations of accelerometer-measured machine-learned sedentary behavior with death among older women: the OPACH Study.J Am Heart Assoc. 2024;13(5):e031156. doi:10.1161/JAHA.123.031156Ahmadi MN, Coenen P, Straker L, Stamatakis E.Device-measured stationary behaviour and cardiovascular and orthostatic circulatory disease incidence.Int J Epidemiol. 2024;53(6):dyae136. doi:10.1093/ije/dyae136Duran AT, Friel CP, Serafini MA, Ensari I, Cheung YK, Diaz KM.Breaking up prolonged sitting to improve cardiometabolic risk: dose–response analysis of a randomized crossover trial.Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2023;55(5):847-855. doi:10.1249/MSS.0000000000003109

7 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Bruellman R, Pahlen S, Ellingson JM, Corley RP, Wadsworth SJ, Reynolds CA.A twin-driven analysis on early aging biomarkers and associations with sitting-time and physical activity.PLoS One. 2024;19(9):e0308660. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0308660Baradaran Mahdavi S, Riahi R, Vahdatpour B, Kelishadi R.Association between sedentary behavior and low back pain; a systematic review and meta-analysis.Health Promot Perspect. 2021;11(4):393-410. doi:10.34172/hpp.2021.50Gao W, Sanna M, Chen YH, Tsai MK, Wen CP.Occupational sitting time, leisure physical activity, and all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality.JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(1):e2350680. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.50680Ussery EN, Fulton JE, Galuska DA, Katzmarzyk PT, Carlson SA.Joint prevalence of sitting time and leisure-time physical activity among US adults, 2015-2016.JAMA. 2018;320(19):2036. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.17797Nguyen S, Bellettiere J, Anuskiewicz B, et al.Prospective associations of accelerometer-measured machine-learned sedentary behavior with death among older women: the OPACH Study.J Am Heart Assoc. 2024;13(5):e031156. doi:10.1161/JAHA.123.031156Ahmadi MN, Coenen P, Straker L, Stamatakis E.Device-measured stationary behaviour and cardiovascular and orthostatic circulatory disease incidence.Int J Epidemiol. 2024;53(6):dyae136. doi:10.1093/ije/dyae136Duran AT, Friel CP, Serafini MA, Ensari I, Cheung YK, Diaz KM.Breaking up prolonged sitting to improve cardiometabolic risk: dose–response analysis of a randomized crossover trial.Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2023;55(5):847-855. doi:10.1249/MSS.0000000000003109

Bruellman R, Pahlen S, Ellingson JM, Corley RP, Wadsworth SJ, Reynolds CA.A twin-driven analysis on early aging biomarkers and associations with sitting-time and physical activity.PLoS One. 2024;19(9):e0308660. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0308660Baradaran Mahdavi S, Riahi R, Vahdatpour B, Kelishadi R.Association between sedentary behavior and low back pain; a systematic review and meta-analysis.Health Promot Perspect. 2021;11(4):393-410. doi:10.34172/hpp.2021.50Gao W, Sanna M, Chen YH, Tsai MK, Wen CP.Occupational sitting time, leisure physical activity, and all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality.JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(1):e2350680. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.50680Ussery EN, Fulton JE, Galuska DA, Katzmarzyk PT, Carlson SA.Joint prevalence of sitting time and leisure-time physical activity among US adults, 2015-2016.JAMA. 2018;320(19):2036. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.17797Nguyen S, Bellettiere J, Anuskiewicz B, et al.Prospective associations of accelerometer-measured machine-learned sedentary behavior with death among older women: the OPACH Study.J Am Heart Assoc. 2024;13(5):e031156. doi:10.1161/JAHA.123.031156Ahmadi MN, Coenen P, Straker L, Stamatakis E.Device-measured stationary behaviour and cardiovascular and orthostatic circulatory disease incidence.Int J Epidemiol. 2024;53(6):dyae136. doi:10.1093/ije/dyae136Duran AT, Friel CP, Serafini MA, Ensari I, Cheung YK, Diaz KM.Breaking up prolonged sitting to improve cardiometabolic risk: dose–response analysis of a randomized crossover trial.Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2023;55(5):847-855. doi:10.1249/MSS.0000000000003109

Baradaran Mahdavi S, Riahi R, Vahdatpour B, Kelishadi R.Association between sedentary behavior and low back pain; a systematic review and meta-analysis.Health Promot Perspect. 2021;11(4):393-410. doi:10.34172/hpp.2021.50

Gao W, Sanna M, Chen YH, Tsai MK, Wen CP.Occupational sitting time, leisure physical activity, and all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality.JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(1):e2350680. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.50680

Ussery EN, Fulton JE, Galuska DA, Katzmarzyk PT, Carlson SA.Joint prevalence of sitting time and leisure-time physical activity among US adults, 2015-2016.JAMA. 2018;320(19):2036. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.17797

Nguyen S, Bellettiere J, Anuskiewicz B, et al.Prospective associations of accelerometer-measured machine-learned sedentary behavior with death among older women: the OPACH Study.J Am Heart Assoc. 2024;13(5):e031156. doi:10.1161/JAHA.123.031156

Ahmadi MN, Coenen P, Straker L, Stamatakis E.Device-measured stationary behaviour and cardiovascular and orthostatic circulatory disease incidence.Int J Epidemiol. 2024;53(6):dyae136. doi:10.1093/ije/dyae136

Duran AT, Friel CP, Serafini MA, Ensari I, Cheung YK, Diaz KM.Breaking up prolonged sitting to improve cardiometabolic risk: dose–response analysis of a randomized crossover trial.Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2023;55(5):847-855. doi:10.1249/MSS.0000000000003109

Meet Our Medical Expert Board

Share Feedback

Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit

Was this page helpful?

Thanks for your feedback!

What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit

What is your feedback?

Watch How Long You’re Sitting Every Day#

Take a One-Minute Walk Every Hour#

What This Means For You#

Watch How Long You’re Sitting Every Day

Take a One-Minute Walk Every Hour

What This Means For You