New Lifestyle: Standing for three hours a day benefits...

Post date: Jul 1, 2014 8:30:37 AM

Standing for three hours a day has 'the same health benefits as 10 marathons a year', says leading doctor

Dr Mike Loosemore says even small amounts of activity are beneficial
Over a year, standing for 3hrs each day would equate to 10 marathons
'It's not about tracksuits and gyms, it’s about adding a little bit of activity'

If you find it tricky to find the time – or the motivation – to go to the gym, here’s some good news.

Simply standing up for three hours a day is as good for you as running ten marathons a year, an expert has claimed.Dr Mike Loosemore, Lead Consultant in Exercise Medicine at the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health, said that official guidelines on exercise are impractical and can seem an impossible task for many people.

But, he insisted, even small amounts of exercise can have health benefits.

The Government advises we spend half an hour a day, five days a week doing moderate exercise.

But Dr Loosemore said barely 7 per cent of men and 4 per cent of women meet that advice.

More than a quarter of adults fail to exercise for just half an hour a week, making Britain one of the least active countries in the world.

Speaking on BBC 4’s Today programme, he said: ‘The message I want to try to get out there is that small amounts of physical activity, although not reaching the government guidelines, are still doing you a lot of good – even just standing up is good for you.

‘I’m standing up now, I’m using all the small muscles in my legs and the rest of me, I’m keeping myself upright.

'If I stood up like this and worked standing up, which I do, three hours a day, five days a week, that would be the equivalent of running ten marathons a year.’Dr Loosemore, who was also Lead Sport Medic for the GB boxing team at the London 2012 Olympics, added that people would be ‘entirely wrong’ to think that small changes, such as standing up more, are pointless.

‘It’s going to improve their health, it’s going to reduce their risk of heart disease, diabetes, it’s going to reduce their risk of cancer, it’s going to reduce their cholesterol and it’s going to make them thinner,’ he said.

‘If you keep doing small gains, they’ll improve your health. It’s easy to do and you make it part of your lifestyle. It’s not about tracksuits and gyms, it’s just about adding a little bit of activity.’

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: ‘We recognise that everyone has to start somewhere, and even making small changes to daily routines will have long term benefits for health and fitness.

‘The physical activity guidelines are designed to be a manageable way in which people can start to make these changes.'

Other small ways of making a big difference include parking 50 yards from the supermarket door, rather than right next to it, and getting out of the lift a floor early to take the stairs.

Dr Loosemore, who was chief medical officer for the England Commonwealth Games team in 2010, said: ‘I say to patients, when you get on the escalator don’t just stand on the escalator and let it take you up to the next floor, actually walk up one step.

Just one step because although it seems like a tiny amount of physical activity, all that builds up.’

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