People have a fairly intuitive sense of what’s healthy – standing is healthier than sitting, exercise is great for overall health, and good sleep is a must.
However, if evening exercise can disrupt our sleep or make us feel the have to develop into sedentary as a way to regenerate, a key query arises – how can we best balance our 24 hours to optimize our health?
Our research tried to reply this query in relation to risk aspects for heart disease, stroke and diabetes. We found that the optimal amount of sleep was 8.3 hours, while for light activity and moderate to vigorous activity, 2.2 hours of sleep was best.
Finding the right balance
Current health guidelines recommend sticking to it reasonable regime physical activity of moderate or vigorous intensity 2.5–5 hours per week.
However more and more evidence Now indicates How you spend your day can have significant consequences for your health. In addition to moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, this includes the time you spend sitting, standing, doing light physical activity (e.g. walking around your house or office), and sleeping.
Our study involved over 2,000 adults who wore body sensors that interpreted their physical behavior for seven days. This gave us an idea of how they spent their average 24 hours.
At the start of the study, participants had their waist circumference, blood sugar levels and insulin sensitivity measured. Body sensor and assessment data were matched and analyzed, then tested against health risk markers comparable to heart disease and stroke risk scores, to create the model.
Using this model, we looked through 1000’s of 24-hour permutations and found those with the lowest estimated associations with heart disease risk and blood glucose levels. This created many optimal combos of sitting, standing, light and moderate intensity activities.
When we checked out waist circumference, blood sugar levels, insulin sensitivity, and risk of heart disease and stroke, we noticed different optimal time zones. Where these zones overlapped, the optimal risk zone for heart disease and diabetes was determined.
You do more physical activity than you think
We found that low-intensity physical activity (defined as walking at a speed of lower than 100 steps per minute) – comparable to walking to the water cooler, the bathroom, or taking a casual walk with friends – has a robust association with glucose control, especially in individuals with type 2 diabetes. This low-intensity physical activity is more likely to accumulate sporadically throughout the day quite than being a deliberate bout of sunshine exercise.
Our experimental evidence shows this interrupting our meeting Regularly performed light physical activity (e.g. a 3-5-minute walk every hour) can improve our metabolism, especially after lunch.
Although moderate to vigorous physical activity could seem quite long at greater than 2 hours per day, we defined it as greater than 100 steps per minute. You can compare it to a brisk walk.
It should be noted that these findings are preliminary. This is the first study to have a look at the risk of heart disease and diabetes and the “optimal” 24 hours, and the results would require further confirmation in longer prospective studies.
The data are also cross-sectional. This implies that estimates of time use are correlated with disease risk aspects, meaning it’s unclear whether how participants spent their time influences their risk aspects or whether these risk aspects influence how someone spends time.
Australia’s adult physical activity guidelines must be updated
Australia physical activity guidelines they currently only recommend exercise intensity and duration. AND latest set of guidelines are developed to take into consideration the 24-hour mechanism. Australians will soon find a way to make use of these guidelines to research their 24 hours and discover where they will make improvements.
While our latest research may help inform upcoming guidelines, we should do not forget that recommendations are like a north star: something to aim for to enhance your health. Generally, this implies limiting sitting time every time possible, increasing standing and light physical activity, increasing higher intensity physical activity, and aiming for a healthy sleep of seven.5-9 hours per night.
Beneficial changes may include reducing screen time in the evening, or selecting an energetic commute quite than driving, or prioritizing going to bed earlier quite than watching TV in the evening.
Please also do not forget that these are recommendations for a capable adult. Each of us has different thoughts and, above all, movement should bring joy.