Have you decided to take charge of your health in 2025? Are you still wondering among the dozens of ways to go about it which best suits your interests, your schedule and your ability to resist the call of the fridge and the sofa? A team from Laval University and the Research Center of the University Institute of Cardiology and Pneumology of Quebec-Université Laval (IUCPQ) has a suggestion for you: spend less time sitting and, while standing, move a little.
“Time spent sitting is associated with several health problems, including cardiovascular disease. Sedentary behaviors are harmful in the short, medium and long term, and this is not only due to the fact that by being sedentary, we do not benefit from the benefits of physical activity. A sedentary lifestyle has its own pathophysiological mechanisms which make it, in itself, a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases,” explains Marie-Eve Piché, professor at the Faculty of Medicine at Laval University and cardiologist at IUCPQ.
The team led by Professor Piché has just published, in the Canadian Journal of Cardiologyan article that reviews the many studies establishing links between a sedentary lifestyle and health problems. “A sedentary lifestyle can damage your heart and vascular system,” she summarizes. When one sits still, there is a reduction in blood flow and a reduction in the forces applied to the blood vessel walls. To maintain the functionality of the cardiovascular system, it must be regularly exercised.”
In light of this literature review, the research team drew two conclusions. The first is to spend less time sitting. The second is to integrate active breaks into prolonged periods of sitting.
According to the World Health Organization, health risks increase significantly when sitting for more than eight hours per day. “We must therefore try to stay below this threshold and intersperse prolonged periods of sitting with breaks as frequently as possible. We can gradually integrate stretching, walking or on-site exercises,” suggests Professor Piché.
-The cardioprotective effects of physical activity become apparent as soon as we escape a sedentary lifestyle. “They are even more important when you go from 0 to 30 minutes of physical activity per week than from 150 to 180 minutes. There is no minimum period below which physical activity does not have positive effects on health.”
— Marie-Eve Piché
Sedentary people should avoid setting disproportionate goals, she warns. “We have to go gradually with targets that are adapted to our interests and our capabilities. Not everyone wants to do 150 minutes of cross-country skiing per week. Spending less time sitting, getting up regularly and moving a little is within everyone’s reach.”
The first author of the study published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology is Julie Riopel-Meunier, doctoral student at the Faculty of Medicine at Laval University and scientific advisor at the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec. The other signatories are Paul Poirier, from the Faculty of Pharmacy, and Jean-Pierre Després and Marie-Eve Piché, from the Faculty of Medicine.
