People have intuitive ideas about what is healthy: standing is better than sitting, exercise is good for overall health, and good sleep is essential. However, some kind of stress in the evening can negatively affect sleep, and sometimes sitting is useful to gain strength. Therefore, the question arises of how to optimally distribute your physical activity throughout the day.
Authors of the new study tried answer this question by linking the daily routine of the experiment participants with the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, stroke and diabetes. 2000 adults participated in the observations. For seven days, they wore sensors on their bodies that recorded physical activity. This is how the profile of daily behavior was built.
The participants were also assessed for body parameters characterizing their health status: from waist size to blood sugar levels. A model was built to assess the risk of developing diseases. At the same time, the researchers tried to cut off the influence of nutrition on these parameters so that only a person’s mobility was taken into account.
From the results obtained, a diagram was compiled describing the ideal physical activity profile. The optimal sleep duration was 8.3 hours. Light activity and more intense activity should be given 2.2 hours a day. The first type includes leisurely walking at a pace of less than 100 steps per minute. Typically, light activity is distributed in short bursts throughout the day: from going to the water cooler in the office to a short walk with friends.
In addition, some nuances in physical activity were identified. For example, interspersing every hour of sedentary time with a five-minute walk can improve your metabolism. Especially in the afternoon. The researchers also suggest that for every six hours of sitting, there should be 5.2 hours of standing.
The authors of the work emphasize that ultimately, the optimal ratio of different types of physical activity for human health varies from person to person. However, the results obtained can serve as a guide for creating medical recommendations.
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