Scientists Uncover 1 Habit to Counteract the Effects of Sitting

Many of us find ourselves sitting for long periods of time throughout the day for one reason or another. But whether you spend hours sitting at a desk for work or any other reason, experts agree that a sedentary lifestyle isn’t ideal for your health. Since spending less time sitting is easier said than done, finding ways to counteract its effects is key. Luckily, it turns out that one simple habit may help offset the negative effects of prolonged sitting—and it only takes five minutes.

Meet the experts: Anna Di, D.C., C.E.S., corrective exercise specialist, chiropractor, and owner of UNITY Chiropractic Wellness in New York City; Patricia Greaves, C.P.T., certified fitness trainer, precision nutrition coach, and founder of StrongHer Personal Training; Karena Wu, D.P.T., board-certified clinical specialist in orthopedic physical therapy and owner of ActiveCare Physical Therapy

The discovery comes from a recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, in which researchers sought to identify a public health strategy to mitigate the adverse health effects of prolonged sitting. The participants included nearly 11,500 adults who were generally in good health and had full-time jobs. Over the course of the two-week study period, the participants were split into groups to take five-minute walking breaks every 30, 60, or 120 minutes during waking hours.

While the 30-minute group ultimately saw the greatest benefits, the results showed that hourly walking breaks offered the best combination of effectiveness and feasibility. What does that mean for you? Ahead, fitness experts break it down.

Why is it important to counteract the effects of sitting?

While our jobs or daily routines require many of us to sit for hours at a time, this isn’t natural for our bodies. “Our bodies don’t really like staying in one position for long periods of time,” explains Anna Di, D.C., C.E.S., a corrective exercise specialist, chiropractor, and owner of UNITY Chiropractic Wellness in New York City. “I like to compare it to resting your wrist on a table for a long period of time. If you leave it there long enough, your wrist starts getting uncomfortable because you’re putting pressure on it and reducing circulation…The same thing happens to our entire bodies if we sit in a chair all day.”

But discomfort from lack of circulation is only one of the concerns that come with prolonged sitting. The longer we sit in one position, the more we lose stability, coordination, and flexibility, according to Di. “If you’re used to sitting with your hips and knees at 90 degrees for eight hours a day, then suddenly ask your body to squat, lunge, or walk backward, it may feel foreign because your hip flexors have adapted to a shortened position, your glutes have gone underused, and your nervous system hasn’t practiced coordinating those other ranges of motion,” she explains. “The body genuinely adapts to whatever position it repeats most.”

Without taking steps to offset the effects of sitting, “a sedentary lifestyle can lead to increased risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and poor mental health,” explains Patricia Greaves, C.P.T., a certified fitness trainer, precision nutrition coach, and founder of StrongHer Personal Training. But when we spend so much of our time in a chair, sporadic workouts aren’t going to cut it.

That’s what makes the results of this particular study significant. “Many people spend 11 to 12 hours sitting at work or at home, then rely on one or two workouts a week to counteract the negative effects of inactivity,” Greaves says. “This study shows that small, consistent movement can have a positive impact on overall wellness. Five minutes of walking each hour is an easy and attainable habit that can improve mood, boost energy, and provide physical benefits.”

Do short movement breaks have other benefits?

The idea that regular movement breaks are good for your overall health isn’t a new one. In addition to counteracting the compressive position that prolonged sitting forces your body into, “these movement breaks can improve all systems from the deep internal organs of digestion and metabolism, to cardiovascular function, to respiration, to musculoskeletal mechanics, to mood and self-esteem,” Karena Wu, D.P.T., a board-certified clinical specialist in orthopedic physical therapy and owner of ActiveCare Physical Therapy, points out.

The mental benefits may be just as motivating as the physical ones, especially if it’s your office job that keeps you sitting all day. “Movement breaks may also improve work productivity and interpersonal relationships among employees,” Wu explains. You aren’t just giving your body a break; you’re also giving your brain a break.

What does this mean for you?

If coordinating a complex fitness routine sounds daunting, the results show that starting smaller may actually be more effective. “One of the biggest takeaways for me is that movement doesn’t have to be complicated to make a difference,” Greaves points out. “As a menopause fitness specialist, I encourage my clients to embrace short movement breaks, especially when they find themselves stuck at their desks…Although a 30-minute walk done routinely has a greater impact on health, doing a five-minute walk every hour helps to move the needle toward improved wellness and can be more easily sustained.”

The study also drives home that the best solution to sitting in a chair all day is simply to stand up. “As a chiropractor, I see a lot of people who think they need to keep stretching while sitting in the same chair,” Di explains. “Sometimes the better solution is simply to stop sitting for a few minutes. Your body was designed to move.”

But while the results of the study make clear just how effective short movement breaks can be, that doesn’t mean you should throw your other fitness habits out the window, especially as you age. “Exercises that improve cardiovascular fitness, build muscle, and maintain bone density are important, especially for adults over 50, who naturally lose muscle mass as they age,” Greaves emphasizes. “Although these findings are encouraging, it’s important to recognize that walking breaks shouldn’t be considered a replacement for consistent exercise (cardio, mobility, and strength training) for lasting wellness.”

The bottom line

The results of the study further confirm what fitness experts already know: “Movement is key to maintaining health and wellness. Any movement, no matter how small, can be helpful in comparison to sedentary postures, especially for prolonged periods of time,” Wu explains. Still, there’s more to consider.

Di points out that the researchers only tested the walking intervention for a short period of two weeks, which means “we can’t use this study to make conclusions about long-term cardiovascular disease, mortality, or other chronic health outcomes.” The data was also primarily self-reported, and the researchers did not use a control group, both of which could have impacted the reliability of the data.

Still, Di says the results are encouraging. “The study is trying to let people know that even just five minutes of walking per hour can help offset some of the negative effects of sitting. I think that’s pretty intuitive to a lot of people, but what’s helpful is that they’re trying to show people a simple habit that can realistically be incorporated throughout the day. You don’t have to go outside for a power walk. Even getting up and walking around the office or your home can make a difference.”