Sitting less and exercise snacking

As well as being active, we should all try to reduce the amount of time spent sitting down. Do you spend time each day:

• watching television?
• using a computer for work?
• playing video games?
• driving?
• on a mobile phone?

There’s increasing evidence that sitting down too much or for too long can be bad for our health. Research from our own cancer prevention experts shows that too much screen time increases the risk of weight gain, and being overweight or living with obesity increases the risk of at least 13 different cancers.

Sitting for long periods can also cause joint and muscle tightness, which can lead to:

• lower back pain
• painful neck
• shoulder stiffness

Even if you are often active, it’s important to minimise how long you spend sitting.

Many jobs are desk-based and mean spending 9 hours or more sitting down every day. But you can reduce the negative effect of this by moving around every 30–60 minutes. You could:

• Sit down, stand up a few times from your chair or sofa
• Do squats or press-ups
• Stand or walk while on the phone
• Go for a walk, either outside or around the office, home or garden
• Do chores like dusting, cleaning, washing, vacuuming, making the bed or emptying the dishwasher
• Get up to get a drink of water
• Stretch

Exercise snacking – the future of keeping active?

Exercise snacking is a relatively new approach to physical activity, which focuses on short bursts of activity a couple of times a day, rather than going on a run or heading to the gym for an hour. An exercise “snack” only lasts for minutes or even seconds.

In our busy lives, exercise snacking – which can be done at home, work or in a public space like a park – is proving popular. You don’t even have to change your clothes!

Breaking up exercise into smaller chunks makes it more manageable – and we know that lack of time is a major barrier to people getting more active. This is where the benefits of exercise snacking come in – you don’t need to put time aside for structured exercise as “snacks” can be done as part of daily living.

And exercise “snacks” naturally break up long periods of sitting down.

How to do exercise snacking

• Get some steps in wherever you are – even if it’s just on the spot.
• Walk briskly, even for just a few minutes at a time.
• Climb the stairs or escalator.
• Put on a song you love and dance for a few minutes.
• Do a minute of squats, star jumps or jogging on the spot. For a real fitness boost, do all 3 with a 1-minute rest in between – still only 5 minutes of activity!
• Set a reminder on your phone or laptop, and aim to do something every couple of hours.