Five minutes of walking every half hour reduces BP, glucose

Breaking up periods of prolong sitting by walking 5 minutes every half hour was associated with reductions in cardiometabolic risk factors, according to a recent study published in Medicine and Science in Sports Exercise.

While recommendations to “sit less and move more” are made for all age groups, Andrea T. Duran, PhD, an assistant professor at Columbia University Irving Medical School, and colleagues noted that current guidance does not specify “how often and how long sedentary time should be interrupted,” and “the existing evidence base has yielded limited information.”

To learn more, Duran and colleagues conducted a randomized crossover trial to determine the effects of five strategies over the course of 5 days:

• a 1-minute walk every 30 minutes;
• a 5-minute walk every 30 minutes;
• a 1-minute walk every 60 minutes;
• a 5-minute walk every 60 minutes; and
• uninterrupted sitting.

The study days lasted for 8 hours, and all walks were described as light intensity.

Of the 11 participants, the mean age was 57 years; 54.5% were men; 36.3% were prehypertensive and 18.2% were hypertensive.

Compared with prolonged sitting, the researchers reported that the net glucose incremental area under the curve was “significantly attenuated” during 5-minute walks every 30 minutes (P = .017). Although reductions were also demonstrated under other walking strategies, they were not statistically significant.

All sedentary breaks were associated with reductions in systolic BP levels (P < 0.5). The largest reduction was observed after 5-minute walks every 60 minutes, which equaled a decrease of 5.2 mmHg (P < .001), followed by 5-minute walks every 30 minutes (P = .003), with a mean decrease of 4.3 mmHG.

Duran and colleagues reported that 5-minute walks every 30 minutes were also associated with the largest decrease in fatigue from baseline (P = .006), followed by 5-minute walks every 60 minutes (P = .003).

The finding that all walking strategies reduced systolic BP provided “critical dosing information that is largely void in the literature,” Duran and colleagues wrote.

“Our findings importantly highlight that breaking up prolonged sitting even at a low dose is enough to elicit BP reductions; suggestive that the documented elevations in BP elicited by prolonged sitting can be readily offset,” they wrote.

The researchers acknowledged that while sedentary breaks may be effective, public opinion and acceptance are key for them to become frequently repeated and accepted.

“In the present study, all doses had high levels of acceptability,” they wrote, highlighting that the longer walking durations of 5 minutes had more robust results in fatigue and mood decrease than those consisting of 1 minute. “Thus, longer break durations should be considered as a means to elicit more positive affective responses and ultimately maximize uptake.”

Moving forward, “higher frequency and longer duration breaks should be considered when targeting glycemic responses, while lower doses may be sufficient for BP lowering,” Duran and colleagues concluded.

References:

• Duran A, et al. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2023;doi:10.1249/MSS.0000000000003109.
• Rx for prolonged sitting: A five-minute stroll every half hour. https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/rx-prolonged-sitting-five-minute-stroll-every-half-hour. Published Jan. 12, 2023. Accessed Jan. 12, 2023.