You might think that you have to change your health completely with a (dubious at best) juice diet or extreme workout plan to see any improvement. That’s not true! New studies show that there are easy ways to make your life better, like moving more during your work day — or at least not sitting at your desk so much, which we know can be bad for our health.
These easy lifestyle changes can have big benefits (like, for example, lowering your chance of dying) and you don’t even need to spend money on a costly personal trainer or clean a juicer. Here’s what you should know.
MOVE MORE…to lower your chance of dying
Office jobs may make sitting unavoidable, but according to studies, long time sitting is also awful for your health. Now there’s more proof to help you get moving: A study of more than 481,000 people published this week in JAMA Network Open found that those who sat most of their time at work had a 16% higher chance of dying from anything, and a 34% bigger risk of dying from heart disease. This was true even after the researchers considered age, gender, education, smoking, drinking and body weight.
This study follows a January 2023 study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, a journal of the American College of Sports Medicine, which found that sitting without breaks can be bad for your health. But you don’t have to leave your desk job for something more active to avoid physical health problems. The researchers of this new study also found that people who sit a lot at work can lower the increased chance of dying by adding just 15 to 30 minutes of physical activity each day.
Another idea, from the researchers, is to split up the amount of time you sit at work in general. For office workers, you can take a walk outside or even around your office while on a call, or walk around the office a few times once an hour. (Just tell your co-workers why you’re doing it!) If your office lets you, a standing desk or even a treadmill desk can help you sit less while on the job.
EXERCISE ALONE…to get better results
Do you exercise with your spouse? A surprising new study found that there may be some problems with working out with your partner as an older adult.
The study, which followed 240 married adults ages 54 to 72 from Singapore, found that couples who exercised together had lower steps than individuals who exercised alone. The research suggests that it may be better for older adults to not change the way they relate to their long-term partners by starting a new exercise routine. In other words, if you want to try Pilates, do it by yourself.
TAKE A MULTIVITAMIN…to help your memory
You might forget to take your daily multivitamin … and funny enough, it may be the thing that helps your memory. A new study of 5,000 people, called the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS), showed that taking a multivitamin can help your brain from losing memory as you get older. The study said that taking this pill made the brain age slower by about two years.
EXERCISE…to keep your bones strong
Your bones get weaker as you age, but we can stop it. One way to do that, according to a new study from the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, is with daily activities that make you work hard. The study made adults between 70 and 85 years old who didn’t exercise much do a year-long exercise program. They found that even short activities, like walking fast or jumping, were good for the study people’s bone health. The lesson: Being active is good.
“You can do more hard activities in your everyday life in small ways, like walking fast and going up stairs,” researcher Tuuli Suominen wrote in the study.”During my journey up on the tips of your feet and then down on your heels is another way to strengthen your bones without jumping.”
