How often desk workers should be getting up and moving to maintain good health

New research has revealed just how often desk worker should be getting up moving their bodies in the course of a typical workday.

The groundbreaking new study by Swinburne University of Technology found the lower-body muscle activity of average Australian office workers who primarily sit at a desk drops to “virtually nonexistent” after just 30 minutes.

So just how often should we be getting up and moving during our workday? The sweet spot, according to the study that was led by Dr Christian Brakenridge from Swinburne’s Centre for Urban Transitions, is very 25 minutes.

To measure real-time lower-body skeletal muscle activation during prolonged sitting, an international research team outfitted participants with wearable textile electromyography smart shorts.

While muscle activity remains highest when a person first sits down, uninterrupted sitting causes lower-body muscle activation to plummet to below one per cent per interval after just 25 minutes.

Workers who keep their sitting bouts under that 25-minute threshold maintain significantly higher overall muscle engagement throughout the day compared to those sitting for longer, uninterrupted stretches.

Dr Brakenridge described that 25 minutes as the “goldilocks zone” that balances a wide spectrum of health markers, from waist circumference to fasting glucose levels.

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“For different health markers, from waist circumference to fasting glucose, there would be different levels for each behaviour,” he said. “This breakdown encompasses a wide range of health markers and converges on the 24 hours associated with overall optimal health.”

Dr Brakenridge notes that different health outcomes require different behaviours, but the recommendations converge on a holistic daily routine designed for optimal health, and turning these work breaks into light-intensity movement sessions such as walks result in even better outcomes for workers.

“People may advocate for more time exercising, though it’s not feasible to have 10 hours of exercise and zero hours of sedentary behaviour – the time use has to be realistic and balanced,” he said.

“Of course, moving as much as you can is always encouraged when so much of life requires us to be sitting in front of screens. Shorter sitting time and more time spent standing, undergoing physical activity and sleeping give great boosts to our cardiometabolic health.”

And importantly, Dr Brakenridge said to keep regular movement doable, and fun.

“It’s also important to acknowledge that this data is a recommendation for an able adult,” he said. “We all have different considerations, and above all, movement should be fun.”

His hope is that these finding will be used by the Federal Government when they release their new activity guidelines, which currently only include wide parameters around exercise and intensity.