5-Minute Walk Can Reverse Effects of Prolonged Sitting
Taking walks as short as 5 minutes in duration can reverse the harm done to leg arteries by sitting for hours at a time, according to a new study from Indiana University.
The study included 11 non-obese, healthy men between the ages of 20 and 35, all of whom participated in 2 randomized trials. In the first trial, patients sat for 3 hours without moving their legs, while the researchers used a blood pressure cuff and ultrasound technology to measure participants’ functionality of the femoral artery at baseline, and again at the 1-, 2- and 3-hour marks.
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In the second trial, the men sat during a 3-hour period, but also walked on a treadmill for 5 minutes at a speed of 2 mph at the 30-minute mark, 1.5-hour mark and 2.5-hour mark. Researchers measured the functionality of the femoral artery at the same intervals as in the other trial.
During the 3-hour period, the flow-mediated dilation—the expansion of the arteries as a result of increased blood flow—was impaired by as much as 50 percent after the first hour, while the arterial function of study participants who walked for 5 minutes each hour stayed the same, and did not decrease throughout the 3-hour span.
These results were likely due to the increase in muscle activity and blood flow in the group that walked for 5 minutes each hour, says Saurabh Thosar, PhD, postdoctoral researcher at the Oregon Institute for Occupational Health Sciences. Thosar, who led the study as a doctoral candidate at Indiana University’s School of Public Health-Bloomington, suggests exercising and meeting recommended guidelines for physical activity.
“Even for people who do not exercise, it is best to break sitting time often,” says Thosar. “Do not sit for more than 1 hour at a stretch.”
—Mark McGraw
Reference
Thosar S, Bielko S, et al. Effect of Prolonged Sitting and Breaks in Sitting Time on Endothelial Function. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2014.