Sedentary behaviour is commonplace around the world!
Sedentary behaviour is not simply a lack of physical activity. It is spending too much time in positions that don’t use any energy. Many of us sit for long periods on the sofa, or at the computer or desk. This damages our health because of the way it affects our blood circulation, and fails to use our muscles and bones.
It is a big risk even to those who regularly exercise!
More than 40% of women and35% of men spend more thansix hours a day desk-bound, orsitting still!
So we know that regular physical activity is good for our health, but how much activity is enough for us to see these benefits?
Physical Activity Guidelines
Adults should aim to accumulate 150 minutes (2 ½ hrs) of moderate intensity physical activity (brisk walking, cycling for example), or 75 minutes (just over an hour) of vigorous intensity physical activity (such as running), or even shorter durations of very vigorous intensity physical activity (such as sprinting or circuit training etc), or a combination of the three every week.
Strengthening activities
Adults should do activities to improve muscle and bone health at least twice a week, thing’s like heavy gardening, carrying heavy shopping, or resistance exercise like weight training or resistance band training.
Active every day
It was previously recommended that physical activity should be spread throughout the week by being active on most days and accumulated in bouts of 10 minutes or more.
Now spreading activity across the day or week can help make the guidelines achievable within daily living; for example walking or cycling for daily travel is often the easiest way to get physically active.
But it is sometimes difficult to fit in conveniently around our busy daily lives – work commitments can interfere, family life can take over.
How to make it work
Most recent evidence suggests that these guidelines can in fact be accumulated in bouts of any length and achieved in one or two sessions per week whilst still leading to the same health benefits.
This is great for individuals who struggle to fit dedicated time to physical activity everyday, and allows them to exercise at more convenient times like the weekend for example.
It also suggests that health benefits can also be achieved from lower volumes, intensities, and frequencies of activity –which is particularly important for individuals with lower levels of physical fitness or disabled adults who are unable to exercise everyday.
The health benefits are the same if you spread activity across the week or can only fit them into a couple of days
Healthy Active 