A new Canadian study finds sitting too much can set you up for some serious health risks, even if you're getting regular amounts of exercise.
"If you exercise, let's say vigorously for one hour, which is fantastic, you should not count that you are fully protected if the rest of your day you spend completely inactive," explained Dr. Mladen Golubic, a lifestyle medicine expert at Cleveland Clinic.
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Researchers at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute reviewed nearly 50 studies assessing sedentary behavior and exercise in adults. They found more than half of the average person's waking life involves stationary activities like watching television, working at a computer or commuting.
They conclude that sitting too much was associated with harmful health outcomes like heart disease, cancer and diabetes, regardless of physical activity.
"The more active you are the less risk factors you have for major illnesses. Either dying from any cause, or dying from heart attack, or dying from cancer," Golubic said.
Golubic agrees with researchers who say exercising one hour per day should not give us the peace of mind to remain seated for the remaining 23 and that there are many ways to burn calories throughout the day.
"Put a reminder every 45 minutes, or maybe hours, to kind of stand up for a few minutes, just stretch, just walk around, or even during commercials, just use any opportunity to interrupt these long periods of sitting," advised Golubic.
This study can be found in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.