Stand up for health

Think your 30 minutes of exercise each day is enough to keep you healthy? Think again!

Most of us have heard that for better health we need at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most, preferably all days of the week. However, what many of us don't realise is that this is not the only physical activity guideline that we should be following. According to the National Physical Activity Guidelines for Australians, the minimum level of physical activity required for good health includes four steps:

1. Think of movement as an opportunity not as inconvenience
2. Be active every day in as many ways as you can
3. Put together at least 30 minute of moderate-intensity physical activity on most, preferably all, days
4. If you can, also enjoy some regular vigorous exercise for extra health and fitness benefits

What these guidelines attempt to show us is our current sedentary lifestyle isn't good enough for keeping us healthy; for better health, we need to move as often as we can. Now more and more research is telling us the same, with many studies showing us a daily exercise session is not enough to combat the damaging effects that being sedentary for the rest of the day is having on our waistlines, blood pressure, blood cholesterol levels and blood glucose levels.

According to the research, prolonged unbroken periods of immobilised muscle that occurs with extended periods of sitting (such as when we commute, watch television or sit at a desk), reduces the ability of lipoproteins (substances that carry cholesterol in our blood) to efficiently mange healthy blood cholesterol levels. These findings have even been found in people who report exercising for at least 150 minutes each week. (the same 30 minutes of exercise on five days of the week).

An Australian study found a detrimental relationship between television viewing time and waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose levels and triglyceride levels, even when the participants were meeting the exercise guidelines. The adverse consequences of prolonged sitting time have also been further verified in findings from a Canadian Fitness Survey that found people who spent the majority of the day sitting had a significantly poorer long-term mortality rate, even if they were deemed to be "physically active".

Before you go getting too depressed about the thought of having to find more time to exercise, there is some good news. Simply standing up more throughout your day can benefit your waistline, body mass index, blood pressure levels, blood cholesterol levels and blood glucose levels, irrespective of the amount of exercise you do. So for optimal health, make sure that on top of your 30-minute daily exercise session, you are also sitting less, moving more and moving often. Think of movement as an opportunity for better health, rather than an inconvenience and choose the active way to do things. You can start now by standing you from your desk and stretching your legs ..... it's that simple!