No matter how hard you exercise, sitting this much a day won't reduce your risk of death.

A study found that even people who exercise diligently on a regular basis are at a higher risk of death from heart failure and cardiovascular disease if they sit for more than 10 hours a day.

Dr. Shaan Khurshid's team at Massachusetts General Hospital in the United States measured physical activity for one week using a wrist-worn device in 89,530 adults with an average age of 62 enrolled in the UK Biobank. They then tracked the occurrence of events such as atrial fibrillation, heart failure, myocardial infarction, and cardiovascular death for eight years. The participants sat for an average of 9.4 hours. During the study period, 3,638 people (4.9%) were diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, 1,854 people (2.1%) with heart failure, 1,610 people (1.84%) with myocardial infarction, and 846 people (0.94%) died due to cardiovascular disease.

The study found that sitting for up to 10.6 hours a day had a minimal increase in the risk of heart failure and cardiovascular death, but the risk increased significantly after 10.6 hours. Furthermore, for those who engaged in moderate- to vigorous-intensity exercise for more than 150 minutes a week, sitting time had less of an effect on the risk of atrial fibrillation and myocardial infarction.

The impact on the risk of heart failure and cardiovascular disease mortality remained significant. Compared to the group that sat for 8.2 to 9.4 hours per day, those who sat for 10.6 hours or more had a 45% and 62% higher risk of heart failure and cardiovascular disease mortality, respectively. The risk of atrial fibrillation and myocardial infarction also increased by 11% and 15%, respectively. The research team explained that 10.6 hours of daily sitting represents a potential threshold associated with increased heart failure and cardiovascular disease mortality.

“No more than 10.6 hours of sitting per day may be a realistic minimum goal for improving heart health,” said study author Dr. Shaan Khurshid. “The importance of reducing sitting time should be further emphasized in the future.”

=============

At my previous job

As I work with numbers,

There were many cases where I sat for a long time,

Sitting for a long time is definitely bad for your back.