Small business owners tend to be desk jockeys, what with all the paper (or computer) work associated with running the business.
Studies show that even the recommended cardio exercise for a half-hour two or three times a week may not sufficiently offset hours of sitting. Something about being motionless seems to increase problems with metabolism of glucose, which leads to Metabolic Syndrome and Diabetes.
Can fidgeting — a kind of tiny, but more frequent, exercise — help?
Leeds University in the U.K. has been studying associations between diet and cancer in the U.K. Women’s Cohort Study. This is a study of 12,778 women, ages 37-78 years old, which looks for all kinds of data on the health of women. Also gathered were averages of sitting time and overall fidgeting.
The women were followed for 12 years with routine health checks. The results of the fidgeting study werepublished in the September 23, 2015 online American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
To study the effects of fidgeting on sedentary people, the women were divided into groups with regard to fidgeting levels, time spent sitting, age, and education. Other things were factored in such as smoking, eating habits, and exercise, to single out the effect the single factor of fidgeting might have on mortality.
The results showed a significant decrease in mortality among those who were moderate to high-level fidgeters. Thin people tend to fidget much more than obese people and women with more education placed higher on the fidgeting index. In the discussion part of the paper, researchers revealed:
“We found that fidgeting modified the association between sitting time and mortality, independently of a range of covariates including physical activity level. We replicated existing findings that longer sitting times were associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality, even among those meeting physical activity recommendations, but did not see this association in medium and high fidgeting groups.”
This is good news for the millions who feel chained to their desks. Getting exercise while working on spreadsheets and emails, what could be easier? No sweating, no pounding heart, no need for a shower or special exercise monitors. It would just be a matter of building a habit.
Everybody has their own style of fidgeting: be it wiggling their feet, wringing their hands, or kicking their legs. Perhaps adding shoulder shrugs can help with the neck pain that frequently bothers computer users.
The mechanism by which fidgeting helps combat the effects of being sedentary is still unknown but the overall impact seems clear. So fidget away.
Office Space Photo via Shutterstock
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