Hitting the gym will not undo the damage, says new study.
By Dileep Thekkethil
BENGALURU: Adults who spend 1 hour a day sitting have 14% more chance of developing heart diseases, according to a study conducted by the Medical College of Wisconsin.
The report also gives warning to frequent gym-goers as it says 1 hour workout is not enough to increase the fitness level as it will not make up for the damage caused by sitting for hours in the workplace.
The study was conducted by the scientist at Medical College of Wisconsin on 2,031 adults, averaging age of 50, based on their daily activity levels. The scientists recorded day to day increase in the blood deposit level of participants and the time they spent sitting.
The report says all participants spent two to 12 hours sitting every day, either in office or in front of the TV screen. The scientist noted that each hour they spent sitting, their deposit level in blood increased by 14%.
The research was headed by Dr. Jacquelyn Kulkinski, an assistant professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at Medical College of Wisconsin.
Dr. Kulkinski was quoted by The Independent as saying, “Reducing the amount of time you sit by even an hour or two a day could have a significant and positive impact on your future cardiovascular health.”
Even though the report says that the time spent exercising in gym might not be sufficient to decrease the deposit levels, Kulkinski is of the opinion that daily exercise of at least 30 minutes is vital for maintaining normal fitness level.
“It’s clear that exercise is important to reduce your cardiovascular risk and improve your fitness level.
“The lesson here is that it’s really important to try and move as much as possible in your daily life, for example, take a walk during lunch, pace while talking on the phone, take the stairs instead of the elevator and use a pedometer to track your daily steps.
“And if you have a sedentary job, don’t go home at night and sit in front of the TV for hours on end.”
Researchers have found that sitting for long periods of time is connected to a number of diseases such as obesity and metabolic syndrome which have a directly association with heart diseases.
According to a journal titled Physical inactivity: A cardiovascular risk factor published by Dr. DS Prasad and Dr. BC Das in Indian Journal of Medical sciences, “Regular endurance and resistance exercise leads to favourable alterations in the cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and neurohumoral systems. These alterations result in a training effect that allows an individual to do increasing amounts of work at a lower heart rate and blood pressure.”