Small Bursts Of Movement That Add To 30 Minutes A Day Can Improve Health Outcomes

A U.S. study of more than 6,000 American adults found that a lifestyle that involves an accumulation of small activities each day can be just as beneficial to health as a daily trip to the gym for structured exercise. Participants in the study wore a tool known as an accelerometer to measure their daily activity. Those who accumulated 30 minutes of short spurts of movement – such as five minutes of pacing while on the phone, walking up and down stairs, etc. – prevented metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. The researchers said that their results “show that simply building movement into everyday activities can have meaningful health benefits”.