One of the drawbacks of trading as a profession is that you can inadvertently spend a lot of time sitting on your arse. Unfortunately, the health impacts of being sedentary are just being explored.
I cam across this article which looks at the health benefits of various forms of exercise intensity. I always caution against accepting these studies as gospel because the methodological constraints of the trials sometimes dont translate completely into real life.
However, this study has an excellent conclusion.
One hour of daily physical exercise cannot compensate the negative effects of inactivity on insulin level and plasma lipids if the rest of the day is spent sitting. Reducing inactivity by increasing the time spent walking/standing is more effective than one hour of physical exercise, when energy expenditure is kept constant.
It doesn’t matter what exercise you do much of the health benefit is lost if don’t spend more time moving/standing and less time sitting.
Incidental exercise!
Half an hour at the gym can’t compete with 16 hours of moving around each day, doing this and doing that. We are designed to move.
It’s the regular muscle contraction that takes the sugar out of the bloodstream into the muscles.
Long term elevated blood sugar levels have a significant impact on morbidity and mortality. Things like obesity, diabetes, heart disease.
Standing while at work can add 10 years to your life!