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November 1, 2023

We all sit a whole lot more than we’d ideally like to—you might even be sitting right now! Sedentary lifestyles, while not good for our health, have ultimately become the norm, so it’s important to offset sitting with regular exercise.

And according to new research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, exactly how much exercise you need to do that might be less than you think.

For this study, researchers wanted to assess the impact of sedentary time and exercise on mortality. As they write, “In western countries, adults spend an average of 9 to 10 hours per day being sedentary, mostly during working hours. As higher sedentary time is associated with higher risk of non-communicable diseases and mortality, preventive measures are important.”

So, they looked at data from just under 12,000 people ages 50 and up who wore physical activity trackers for at least two years. Participants also reported data about other health factors like their height, weight, current or previous diseases, etc.

Just over half of the participants were sedentary (AKA sitting down) for 10.5 or more hours every day, and those people also had an increased risk of death. Namely, the activity tracker data showed that being sedentary for 12+ hours a day was associated with a 38% higher risk of death, but just 22 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) offset that risk.

As the study authors explain, “Higher levels of MVPA were associated with lower mortality risk irrespective of the amounts of sedentary time. In contrast, higher sedentary time was only associated with mortality risk in participants with low levels of MVPA. Accumulating at least 22 min per day of MVPA eliminated the association between sedentary time and mortality.”

These findings come as great news to those of us who can’t avoid sitting while we’re working during the day—because 22 minutes really isn’t much to ask. Even an extra 10 minutes of exercise a day was associated with a 35% lower risk of death among participants spending more than 10.5 sedentary hours every day.

As the researchers write, “Small amounts of moderate to vigorous physical activity may be an effective strategy to ameliorate the mortality risk from high sedentary time, where accumulating more than 22 minutes eliminates the risk of high sedentary time.”

So set your timer for 22 minutes and choose your workout! Moderate to vigorous physical activity includes anything that gets your heart rate and respiratory rate up, so think things like jogging, brisk walking, biking, dancing, and hiking uphill.