Move More, Live Longer

Just do the math: almost eight hours of sitting at the office each day plus 1/2 hour sitting with the family during dinner and then an hour or two sitting around during the evening. That’s a lot of time spent on our butts. New research shows that if we would just get up and move more, we might live longer.

The study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, followed more than 120,000 American adults. Researchers discovered that the more we veg, the shorter our life spans. What’s surprising is that the sedentary lifestyle/shorter life span correlation remained even after researchers removed other contributing factors such as obesity. After adjusting for things like obesity and smoking), women who sat for around six hours a day had a 37 percent increased risk of dying. For men, the risk rose 17 percent.

Other than obesity and related conditions, researchers aren’t positive why the link between inactivity and mortality risk exists. One theory states that resting muscles change hormone levels which can then contribute to cholesterol and other heart-related issues.

So what do you do? Move!

- Be an early bird. Start your morning with exercise. Nobody likes to set their alarm earlier than they have to, but even 20 minutes of activity in the morning will energize you for your day. Take the dog for a walk, follow an exercise DVD or make a quick stop at the gym.

- Break it up. Break up your workday with bouts of activity. Standing up for a minute or two and stretching will move your muscles and won’t pull you from your work for long. And take advantage of lunch breaks to go for a walk.

- Participate. Don’t sit and idly watch while your kids are at sports practice … take the time to move. You can volunteer to help coach or you can walk around the park or field.

- Family time. Does your family usually leave the dinner table and go their separate ways. Try instituting some after dinner family time — the dishes can wait … really. Go for a bike ride together or play a game of soccer in the backyard.

- Commercial non-breaks. Do you enjoy some downtime in front of the TV during the evening? No problem! But make a point to get up and move during the commercial breaks. Simply standing up and straightening the living room or going to get a glass of water will break up the inactivity.