Moving more every day isn’t complicated or impossible even if you have a sedentary job. The good news is that moving just a little more often than you already do can extend your life. Today nearly everyone in office-bound and transportation-intense jobs sits too much and too long at a time. The result: sore, stiff necks, backs and hips. But pain and stiffness aren’t the only side effects of sedentary working conditions.

The startling conclusion: In 2013, the Public Library of Science reported that high levels of sitting time (the Sitting Disease) — seven or more hours per day — is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers. In fact, every single hour of uninterrupted sitting results in as much as an eight percent increase in all types of mortality causes.

Health Complications Multiply the More Sedentary Your Lifestyle

What If I Exercise Already?
The average office worker and long-haul driver sits between seven and thirteen hours every working day, and that’s not including when they sleep — so as much as 80 percent of a worker’s life can be sedentary. If you work out thirty to sixty minutes every day, that’s just three to four percent of an entire 24-hour day. According to Genevieve Healy, PhD, a foremost researcher of the effects of sedentary lifestyles, thirty minutes of exercise a day may not be enough to fully counteract the negative effects of sitting eight to ten hours every working day.

Help Reverse the Damage Caused by Too Much Sitting in Just Two Minutes per Hour
In 2015, The American Society of Nephrology published research showing that just two minutes of light activity between every hour of sedentary activity resulted in an estimated 33 percent decrease in the risk in premature death. So although your routine workouts certainly count, just the simple act of getting up and/or moving for brief periods of time every hour offers tremendous benefit. This single, simple solution also helps reduce stress and excess weight. Here are some simple tips and easy-to-do movements to help keep you in shape while you defeat the Sitting Disease: