Sitting behind your desk all week? Undo the negative effects with 3 minute bouts of exercise

There is a common misconception that you must train like a maniac to benefit from exercise, but this is just simply not the case. Research have concluded that short bouts of exercise, as short as 3 minutes (!) spaced throughout the day is enough to counteract the negative effects of physical inactivity.

Sounds too good to be true, right?

Wrong!

One recent, small-scale study has demonstrated this in regards to Metabolic health. The study looked at the effect that several 3-minute bouts of exercise, spread throughout the workday, had on the metabolic health of sedentary office workers who were at risk of type II diabetes. The results showed that these short, 3 minute bouts of exercise were effective in improving blood sugar control and, importantly, did not interrupt the workers' workflow.

The authors of this paper stress the seriousness of over-sitting and physical inactivity. If you're worried that you might be sitting too long during the day, the author's suggested that readers begin using a mobile application that reminds you to move throughout the workday...

...sound familiar?

Not everybody has the time, or even the desire, to exercise extensively outside of work time to improve their fitness. But, we should all be in the market to improve our health. With significant health benefits being available with considerably low effort - what do we have to lose?

Get active with PreActive.

Full article: https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpendo.00599.2020