How Much Exercise You Need to Offset Sitting All Day

If you work a desk job, you’re no stranger to sitting for eight hours a day. In fact, 65 million U.S. adults spend at least that much time in their seats.This can lead to a host of health issues: back pain, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and premature death.

But is it possible to exercise your way out of those risks? According to a 2020 study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, getting 30 to 40 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily might help.

“It is safe to say that physical activity can offset the detrimental association between sedentary time and risk for death,” said Ulf Ekelund, PhD, a professor of sports medicine at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences and first author of the study.

Current physical activity guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise weekly. In a 2023 study published in the same journal, Ekelund found that people who met these recommendations—which comes out to about 22 minutes daily—did not have an increased risk of death regardless of how long they sat during the day.

He said both studies showed that it’s better to add physical activity to your day rather than reduce sedentary behavior.

“[M]any people have to sit for long periods of time at work and during transportation. For these, being physically active outside of work is even more important,” Ekelund added.

Make Physical Activity Fit Your Schedule

You don’t have to get a gym membership to add more physical activity to your day. Stand up and stretch, walk around your cubicle, do bodyweight squats or push-ups against your desk, or go for a lunchtime stroll, Chris Kolba, PT, PhD, a physical therapist and sports medicine expert at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, told Verywell.

You could also try a treadmill or cycle desk but don’t rely on a standing desk to eliminate all of the problems of sedentary behavior. Studies have also shown that standing for too long can increase the risk of some health problems, specifically a low blood pressure condition called orthostatic hypotension.

However, alternating between sitting and standing may help minimize back pain brought on by desk jobs.

“A lot of times when [they] sit, people get comfortable and they lose their core activation. Sitting also tends to put a little bit more stress on your low back, like your spine and discs, compared to standing,” Kolba said.

A Little Exercise Goes A Long Way

Adding 22 to 40 minutes of physical activity to your routine might seem overwhelming, but you can break this up throughout the day. Just taking five minutes every hour to do something physically active has benefits. Think of these breaks as “activity snacks,” said Ekelund.

“Even if you park a mile away from where you work and walk in 10 minutes, that’s very beneficial. Then you walk out from work, and you can get 20 minutes of exercise just walking in and back,” said Doug Keen, PhD, a senior lecturer of exercise physiology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tuscon.

Spending a few minutes walking up the stairs also counts. Research has shown this can actually make a big difference in lowering the risk of heart disease and death. A 2023 review article found that it only takes about four to eight weeks of regular stair climbing for some improvements in blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

And if you want to maximize your exercise time, ramp up the intensity. Research has shown that short bursts of vigorous-intensity exercise—like jumping rope, running, or hiking uphill—help minimize cardiovascular risks.

Approximately six minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise each day seems to offset most health hazards from prolonged sitting, Emmanuel Stamatakis, PhD, a professor of physical activity and population health at the University of Sydney, who published this finding in a recent study, told Verywell in an email.

“Vigorous intensity is extremely potent for health, and there is consistent evidence that a little goes a long way,” he added.