Why You Should Focus on Sitting Less, Rather Than Hitting a Step Goal
Getting 10,000 steps every day is a stupid goal. Step counts can seem intimidating, especially for people who work at a desk or have physical limitations. The simple pressure of hitting 10,000 steps can become its own source of stress: miss the goal by a few thousand steps, and it’s easy to feel like the whole day has been a wash. Rather than obsessing about reaching a specific number of steps, consider focusing on a simpler, more achievable goal: sitting less. Not only is this reframing easier to maintain, it could be just as beneficial for your health.
Why you should interrupt sitting time
“Spending most of your time sitting contributes greatly to increasing your risk of heart attacks and strokes,” says Pamela Light, a certified personal trainer at The Bay Club. And if you think you can’t afford to take breaks during a busy work day, know that you don’t need to turn into a marathon runner or achieve a high number of daily steps to see real health benefits. Simply breaking up your sitting time throughout the day can make a significant difference.
“Ten minutes of movement is enough to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, while slowing muscle loss,” says Light. And science confirms it. In fact, a 2022 study published in JAMA Internal Medicine suggests that ten minutes of moderate exercise per day would prevent more than 111,000 premature deaths per year. Small changes could have a major impact on your life.
How to Break Up Your Sitting Time
The beauty of this approach is its simplicity and flexibility, especially compared to the stress of 10,000 steps. You don’t need to do jumping jacks in the middle of your desk or draw attention to yourself. Instead, try incorporating more movement into the things you already do throughout the day. This could be cleaning the house, checking in on co-workers, helping with an extra task, or going for a walk around the block.
Even bathroom breaks become opportunities for movement. “Go to a more distant bathroom or another floor and take the stairs. Once inside, do 10 squats,” says Light. “They don’t have to be huge or perfect, but giving the big muscles in your legs a chance to flex and relax will feel good in your joints, improve your mood, and help your body extract nutrients from the blood and into the muscles.”
What do you think of it so far?
Other ideas include pacing yourself during phone calls and setting timers to remind you to take breaks. Plus, I know that when I have the opportunity to move, the time away from my desk will make me more productive when I return.
The essentials
Instead of chasing an arbitrary number of steps that might seem out of reach, simply commit to getting up and moving for a few minutes. Take a walk around the office, do a few chair squats, or just stand and stretch for a while. Instead of feeling guilty about what you didn’t do, you can feel good about the little moments of movement you incorporated throughout your day.
Additionally, achievable goals are the ones we are most likely to stick to. If you’re someone recovering from an injury, managing a chronic illness, working a demanding job, or just starting to think about movement, getting up once an hour is an achievable place to start.
