Many health advocates claim that accumulating physical activity through small changes can make a big difference in your health. We are encouraged to take the stairs rather than the elevator, park at the back of the parking lot and trade our desk chairs in for Swiss balls. But do these little steps really make a difference in our overall heath? New research says "yes", in a big way!
A study led by Len Kravitz, Ph.D s at the University of New Mexico showed a dramatic difference in the daily total caloric expenditure in people who fell into the obesity category and non-obese self proclaimed "couch potatoes". It turns out, the thin self-proclaimed "coach potatoes" may not have been working out regularly but they were fidgeters. Activity monitors showed their inability to sit still resulted in a whopping 350 caloric expenditure per day. Their constant fidgeting burned as many calories as a 40 minute workout!
Similarly, a recent study examined the relationship between sitting time and mortality. They found that the more leisure time people spent sitting, the higher their mortality risk. This correlation was especially evident in women; those who spent 6 hours/day sitting were 37% more likely to die during the 13 year study than those who sat less than 3 hours/day. When combined with a lack of physical activity, women were an astonishing 94% more likely to die.
Clearly, by incorporating small changes into our day we are able to make a big difference in our overall health. If you have a desk job, set your alarm to get up and walk around at least once every hour. Rather than camping out on the couch during prime-time TV, do some of the body-weight exercises or plyo sequences from bootcamp while you watch your favorite show. Meeting a friend for coffee? Get your lattes to go and take a stroll around the mall or a park while you catch up.
Little changes really can make a big difference so get up and start fidgeting for your health!
