[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/exercise\/reduce-risks-much-sitting\/#Article","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/exercise\/reduce-risks-much-sitting\/","headline":"How to reduce the risks of physical inactivity","name":"How to reduce the risks of physical inactivity","description":"Print PDF eBook Facebook Twitter Gmail LinkedIn Pinterest With about 26% of the adult population sitting for more than eight hours a day the risks of physical inactivity taking a toll on your body are real. If you\u2019re looking for extra motivation to get up and get moving, there\u2019s a powerful study documenting how physical […]","datePublished":"2020-01-26","dateModified":"2026-04-03","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/author\/brownbetterbonesgmail-com\/#Person","name":"Dr. Susan E. Brown, PhD","url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/author\/brownbetterbonesgmail-com\/","identifier":72,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8e08d87bd45250c6616e1752933a6576aba077f335d97ee337a0cde5e435cbd3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8e08d87bd45250c6616e1752933a6576aba077f335d97ee337a0cde5e435cbd3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Center for Better Bones","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Better-Bones-AMP.png","url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Better-Bones-AMP.png","width":150,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/physical-inactivity-BB-Blog-1-20.jpg","url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/physical-inactivity-BB-Blog-1-20.jpg","height":1256,"width":2400},"url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/exercise\/reduce-risks-much-sitting\/","video":{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"VideoObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Rm2HoL2jrCg#VideoObject","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Rm2HoL2jrCg","name":"Reducing the harmful effects of sitting eight hours a day with exercise","description":"Dr. Brown discusses how moderate physical activity before or after sitting all day long at your office job can keep you from having an increased risk of developing diseases and having an early death.\n\n\u2192 Want to learn everything you need to manage & reverse your osteoporosis\/osteopenia naturally in one inspiring weekend with Dr. Brown? Join our bone health retreat & workshop! Learn more here: https:\/\/shop.betterbones.com\/pages\/love-your-bones-love-your-life-virtual-retreat\n\n\u2192 If you are interested in working with Dr. Brown to develop a personalized natural bone health program, read more about consultations here: https:\/\/www.betterbones.com\/consultations\/help-osteoporosis-osteopenia-fracture-healing-bone-health-concerns\/\n\n\u2192 Would you like your questions answered by Dr. Brown?  Comment below and she may address them in a future video!\n\nCheck out our website! \u2192 http:\/\/ www.betterbones.com\n\nWant to connect with Better Bones on social media?\nLike on Facebook \u2192 http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/betterbonesbetterbody\n\u200bFollow on Twitter \u2192 http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/drsusanbrown\n\u200bFollow our Instagram \u2192 http:\/\/www.instagram.com\/betterbonesbetterbody\n\u200bCheck out our Pinterest \u2192 http:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/betterbonesbetterbody\n\n#osteoporosis #osteopenia #bonemass #bonehealth #weightandbonemass #womenshealth #drsusanbrown #betterbonesbetterbody #preventosteoporosis\nExercise for bone health: patreon.com\/betterbones\n\nTranscription:\nhi everyone this is Susan brown director\nof the Center for better bones you've\nprobably all heard this concept that\nsitting is the new smoking and that many\nof us who work in offices and sit all\nday long that we have a much higher risk\nfor heart disease diabetes gaining\nweight high blood pressure\ncardiovascular disease even even insulin\nresistance and osteoporosis the this\nthis data is quite well known what I\nhave currently here is a research\nproject from Sweden that then asked the\nquestion well I want how much exercise\ndo you have to do to compensate for\nsitting all day can you do exercise\nduring the day after you saturate hours\nor before you situate hours that would\nmitigate the effects the creased risk of\ndeath with the sitting all day long they\nlooked at 16 very large studies and the\nresult is really interesting and kind of\ngives us a practical guide line here's\nwhat they say our study clearly suggests\nthat 60 to 75 minutes of physical\nactivities such as brisk walking or\ncycling eliminated the association\nbetween sitting time and death in other\nwords there was no increased risk of\ndeath with people who worry who were\nactive at least 60 to 75 minutes that's\nsignificantly active you know like\nbiking being jogging outside walking a\nvigorous walk 60 to 75 minutes\neliminated the risk of sitting all day\nso if you have to sit all day and you\ncan't get up and walk around and be busy\nduring the day may be physically active\nknow that one hour to 75 minutes of you\nknow kind of significant but still\nmoderate physical activity will we will\nkeep you from having those additional\nrisk factors and early death from the\nimpacts of sitting 48 hours have fun get\nout exercising we'll talk to later if\nyou want more information on our work\nyou can go to better bones calm where we\nhave a great body of information on\nnatural bone health\nbe well we'll talk later","thumbnailUrl":["https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/Rm2HoL2jrCg\/default.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/Rm2HoL2jrCg\/mqdefault.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/Rm2HoL2jrCg\/hqdefault.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/Rm2HoL2jrCg\/sddefault.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/Rm2HoL2jrCg\/maxresdefault.jpg"],"uploadDate":"2016-11-18T18:28:43+00:00","duration":"PT2M18S","embedUrl":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Rm2HoL2jrCg","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCm6Zry9uGdrZpm05sQLIxMw#Organization","url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCm6Zry9uGdrZpm05sQLIxMw","name":"Dr. Susan E. Brown","description":"Dr. Susan E. Brown, PhD, is a medical anthropologist, a New York State Certified Nutritionist, and the author of Better Bones, Better Body -- the first comprehensive look at natural bone health. Dr. Brown specializes in osteoporosis, osteopenia, bone health regeneration, and auto-immune disease. She is also famous for her natural approach to bone health; check out her Better Bones programs and products.","logo":{"url":"https:\/\/yt3.ggpht.com\/ytc\/AIdro_m0l08uY9k8RO1FbN8-VsYIOa8fiq9BtocNNM_k3xw7a7s=s800-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj","width":800,"height":800,"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Rm2HoL2jrCg#VideoObject_publisher_logo_ImageObject"}},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Rm2HoL2jrCg#VideoObject_potentialAction","target":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Rm2HoL2jrCg&t={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"},"interactionStatistic":[[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Rm2HoL2jrCg#VideoObject_interactionStatistic_WatchAction","interactionType":{"@type":"WatchAction"},"userInteractionCount":721}],{"@type":"InteractionCounter","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Rm2HoL2jrCg#VideoObject_interactionStatistic_LikeAction","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":18}]},"about":["Exercise"],"wordCount":525,"keywords":["sitting","Sedentary Lifestyle"],"articleBody":" Print PDF eBook\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFacebook\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTwitter\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGmail\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLinkedIn\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPinterest\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWith about 26% of the adult population sitting for more than eight hours a day the risks of physical inactivity taking a toll on your body are real.If you\u2019re looking for extra motivation to get up and get moving, there\u2019s a powerful study documenting how physical inactivity for 8 hours a day can take years off your life.The increased risk of early death adds to what we know about the harm of inactivity \u2014 which also includes increased risk of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and obesity.Table of ContentsToggle     2 Minutes ReadWhat\u2019s your risk?What can you do to reduce your risk?Here are more\u00a0ideas to get movingWhat\u2019s your risk?Researchers analyzed data from 16 different studies world-wide involving more than\u00a01,000,000 people, most of whom were over 45. Study subjects were classified into activity levels of less than 5 minutes a day for the least active to 60 to 75 minutes for the most active.The greatest risk was for people who both sat for long periods of time and were physically inactive. One interesting point was that people who sat for 4 hours and got no exercise each day were worse off than people who sat for 8 hours but got an hour or more of exercise daily.And watching TV makes it worse. Sitting watching TV for more than\u00a03 hours per day was associated with increased risk of death in all activity groups except the most active. And at more than\u00a05 hours per day of TV, it didn\u2019t matter how much you exercised, risk of death was increased.What can you do to reduce your risk?Here are more\u00a0ideas to get movingDetermine your daily sitting time and set your daily exercise requirement.Establish a routine for getting in those necessary minutes of physical activity: take a 15-minute walk before work, or park your car 10 minutes’ walk from your office. Then take a 20-minute brisk walk at lunchtime and another after work \u2014 and just like that, you’ll have negated most of the day’s sitting.Consider using an activity monitor like a Fitbit that can be set to track your minutes of active exercise. I set mine for 60 minutes a day to ensure I get up and out daily.If you want to learn more about the risks of sitting, check out my blog, Is sitting the new smoking?So let’s make 2020 our year to get out and\u00a0moving \u2014 I’d love to hear about your exercise plan for 2020![av_toggle_container initial=’0′ mode=’accordion’ sort=” styling=” colors=” font_color=” background_color=” border_color=” av_uid=’av-r2ouygn4′ custom_class=”][av_toggle title=’References’ tags=” av_uid=’av-i67txfpc’]References:Ding, Ding, et. al. 2016. The economic burden of physical inactivity: A\u00a0global analysis of major non-communicable diseases.\u00a0 The Lancet, 388(10051):1311\u20131324. \u00a0http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1016\/S0140-6736(16)30383-XEkelund, U., et al. 2016. Does physical activity attenuate, or even eliminate, the detrimental association of sitting time with mortality? A harmonised meta-analysis of data from more than 1 million men and women. The Lancet, \u00a0388(10051):1302\u20131310. http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1016\/S0140-6736(16)30370-1[\/av_toggle][\/av_toggle_container]"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Exercise","item":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/exercise\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to reduce the risks of physical inactivity","item":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/exercise\/reduce-risks-much-sitting\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]