Expert warns why this daily habit is shortening your life – even if you exercise

Are you sitting comfortably? Probably. According to the NHS, many UK adults spend upwards of nine hours each day sitting down. But too much sitting could seriously damage your health, according to new research from Brunel University – even if you meet weekly exercise recommendations.

“We reviewed the published evidence available regarding associations between sedentary behaviour [sitting or lying down] and different risk markers for cardiovascular disease and diabetes in people aged 60 and above,” says sedentary behaviour specialist Dr Daniel Bailey who is, perhaps predictably, stationed at a standing desk during our video call.

The review found that people who sat down for large chunks of their day were far more likely to have a higher waist circumference and body fat levels. They also recorded worse readings for several biomarkers linked to heart disease and diabetes, such as blood pressure, glucose levels, triglycerides and cholesterol.

“Those risks were there regardless of the amount of physical activity these older adults were engaging in,” he adds.

Many people spend upwards of eight hours at a desk each day. Add in the journey home from work and sofa time watching telly, and it’s easy to see how daily sitting times are so high for many of us.

“Over the past few decades, we’ve seen all of this technology come into play, which gives us more opportunities to sit down,” Dr Bailey says. “With that, we have seen a massive increase in obesity and the diseases that come with it.”

Data suggests older populations are the most sedentary group, and it is this demographic that will likely experience the greatest benefits from cutting down their daily sitting time. However, Dr Bailey adds, “It is an important consideration for all ages,” with studies on children and working-age adults also linking excessive sitting to increased health risks.

“Some studies show the threshold is somewhere between seven and 10 hours of sitting per day being too much,” Dr Bailey tells me. “That’s where your risk of early mortality and several different diseases really starts to increase.

Read more: The science-backed exercise method that can help fight the effects of ageing

Obviously, if you move less, you burn less energy during the day, which can contribute to weight gain. Muscles can lose strength when unused, joints can become stiff, and because you are asking less of your heart and lungs each day, fitness can fade away.

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Research shows that the negative effects of excessive sedentary time are linked to the amount of time you spend sitting down at a time. “There have been a number of studies that show the benefits of breaking up your sedentary time every 30 to 60 minutes,” explains. Dr Bailey added that the mechanism behind this is not yet fully understood. He describes it as a series of “metabolic switches that help regulate blood sugar, glucose levels and cholesterol levels.”

“If you’re not doing regular muscular contractions, these metabolic switches switch off. That’s when we get higher levels of glucose in the blood, higher cholesterol in the blood, and our blood pressure isn’t as well regulated.”

Read more: If you struggle to walk 10,000 steps a day, a scientist recommends trying this instead

The primary ways to fight the negative effects of sitting down is to do less of it, and to ensure you are getting regular muscular contractions – ie using your muscles and moving. Based on his research, Dr Bailey prescribes trying to move in some form every 30 to 60 minutes.

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“Every movement counts,” he says. “We’ve published a lot of studies in our group that show how regular, short bouts of light activity keep these metabolic switches turned on, and your blood sugar levels and cholesterol stay lower throughout the day.

“It doesn’t need to be structured exercise. Simply standing up seems to be beneficial in people that are overweight, obese or have type two diabetes. We’ve also looked at slow walking – people can get these metabolic benefits from things we do in our everyday lives.

“Every half an hour, get up, move around for a few minutes, and that should help reduce your risk of the different diseases we’ve discussed.”

Read more: The science-backed two-minute daily workouts for improving heart health

Another easy change Dr Bailey suggests is reorganising your workstation to encourage more movement.

“Changing your setup so not everything is at hand can help,” he explains. “If you need a pen, to print something or put something in the bin, having those things located away from your desk might encourage you to move more often. And rather than sending a colleague an email, go and talk to them at their desk.”

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You could also make a conscious effort to move after you finish certain tasks at your computer, he adds.

“Sometimes you might ignore an alert to move from your wearable or an app because you are working on something. Instead, wait until the end of a task, then use that as your cue to get up and move around. If you’re working from home, you could spread your housework across the day rather than doing it in one big chunk, and use these opportunities to do it.”

The good news is that the results of reducing your daily sitting time and making even these small tweaks are pretty remarkable. “If we can limit our sedentary time and be physically active, we’re going to live a longer and healthier life, which is what I think we’re all striving for,” says Dr Bailey.

“Benefits you might see and feel quite quickly are [a] better mood, more energy and less fatigue. Then, in the longer term, you might start to see reductions in body fat or body weight because you are burning more calories from movement.

“The deeper impacts won’t be as obvious, but you could benefit from a reduction in blood sugar levels and a reduction in blood pressure. That will help reduce your risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some cancers as well.”

Read more: A cardiac nurse says these five daily behaviours can reduce your risk of heart disease