Walk This Much Per Hour To Save Your Life

Are you tired of hearing about how unhealthy sitting is yet? Well, I finally have some good news for you: new research suggests that merely a five-minute walk per hour can reverse arterial damage caused by too much sitting. Just five minutes per hour! If you're not doing at least that much walking already, what's your excuse?

Researchers from the Oregon Health & Science University recently published their results regarding hourly five-minute walks in the American College of Sports Medicine's journal, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. They found that, in their test groups of young and non-obese men, a mere three hours of sitting impaired artery function (normal dilation and expansion) by up to 50 percent! However, there was no measurable artery function decline in men who walked for five minutes on a treadmill per otherwise-sedentary hour.

Just think of how all that sitting and related artery impairment must add up over months and years! It only took brief walks at just two miles per hour speed to stop the damage. That's no power-walking, people: two miles per hour is barely moving. You can probably spend two minutes per hour just walking to and from the bathroom at work. Maybe choose a bathroom on a different floor of the building, throw in a flight of stairs, and there's your five minutes! You don't want to die do you?

In case you're late to the sitting-will-kill-you party, I'm afraid to report that it's true: evidence just keeps mounting that sitting is really bad for you. Some doctors and other informed parties will recommend standing or even treadmill desks to prevent the harms of a sedentary workplace, but those just aren't desirable or feasible in many cases. This new research means that, even if you can't or won't change your furniture or your day's schedule, it's well worth it to get moving just a little each hour. Your cardiovascular system will thank you later!