The 30:5 Method to Beat Excessive Sitting

And as I mentioned in my previous newsletters this month, in honor of American Heart Month, I’m offering a 15% discount on Premium subscriptions for the entire month of February.

My Take:

Human beings were not meant to sit around all day. That is what every study looking at this has made clear. This study puts it in stark perspective, but also shows how to counteract the effect:

“People who predominantly sit at work have a 16% higher risk of mortality from all causes, and a 34% higher risk of mortality from cardiovascular diseases. To counteract the increased risk, individuals who sit a lot at work would have to engage in an additional 15 to 30 minutes of physical activity per day to reduce their risk to that of individuals who do not predominantly sit.”

One way to do this is what I call the 30:5 Method. Simply put, for every 30 minutes spent sitting, get up and walk around, stretch, or otherwise move your body for 5 minutes. (These are minimums; more is better.) The best way I have found to do this is to set a timer. When you sit down at your desk, set your timer for 30 minutes. When it goes off, stand up and walk away from your desk for 5 minutes. (You may also want to set the timer for 5 minutes to hold yourself to it.) Then repeat.

The key is to be sure you do stand up when the timer goes off! There are apps that will shut down your screen for a certain amount of time of your choosing, so if you find yourself having trouble keeping to this, you may want to look into one of those apps.

This method comes from reviewing the results of a 2023 Columbia University study showing that people who engaged in light activity for just 5 minutes every 30 minutes had close to a 60% reduction in blood sugar spikes after a meal. In other words, interjecting 5 minutes of physical activity every 30 minutes decreased insulin resistance, which in turn decreases cardiovascular disease risk.

My Take:

And speaking of physical activity, this study was a revelation! Apparently, women can benefit even more than men from the same amount of exercise. We don’t know the exact mechanisms of this yet—future studies may show that—but I suspect it has to do with the same physiology that leads to a longer average lifespan for women as compared to men.

This doesn’t mean men shouldn’t exercise, of course! Quite the contrary: men may want to exercise even longer than the minimum recommendation of 150 minutes per week. (And both men and women can benefit from more exercise, especially since most Americans don’t get even the minimum recommended amount per week.)

Premium Content

This Activity Lowers Blood Pressure Even Better than Aerobics

Where to Find a Good Tai Chi Class

Become a paying subscriber of Premium Subcription to Speak for the Heart to get access to this post and other subscriber-only content.

Already a paying subscriber? Sign In