Walking 22 mins a day offsets the harmful impact of being sedentary - I don’t think so!

It was interesting reading the findings of a recent study cited in The Guardian that walking an extra 22 minutes a day may well be enough to offset the potentially harmful impacts of too much sitting.

While I agree that more movement is fantastic and contributes to better health, I do think that there’s a bit more to the story here.

Yes getting up to walk more is fab but if this is done in isolation of other types of movement throughout the day it may not be enough to offset the short term (and potentially longer term impacts) of sitting relatively still for hours on end. At the very least your body could feel stiff and probably achey too. Plus, walking only moves your body in one plane of movement and so if that is all you do then your body is missing out on all the other ways it could move.

I do think that there is a belief that back ache/stiff shoulders etc are a given for those of us who sit too much. We just accept that’s the case. Well this simply isn’t true.

Simple, frequent and varied movement can have a massive impact on how we feel not only physically but mentally too. The quote “your next posture is your best posture” springs to mind here.

In fact, daily I see the positive impact that more movement while working has on individuals at businesses I work with with: people reporting fewer aches and pains, increased energy, and feeling stronger/more mobile from including as little as 2-3 very short movement breaks throughout the working day.

So the upshot is yes do the walking, do the after work pilates classes and whatever else it is you might do when not at work BUT also move at your desk. Mix up sitting and standing. Weave in those short movement breaks.

Learn moves you can do while you’re actually typing/in meetings. I can help you…