This'll Get You Off Your Bum!

We’ve heard that our increasingly sedentary lifestyles are unhealthy. A study from 2011 found that men sat more were substantially more likely to die from heart disease. A Mayo Clinic physiologist has even argued that inactivity should become a mainstream medical diagnosis and that doctors should take more interest in their patients activity levels. OK, so how do we get up and start moving more? Well, a team of scientists decided to see if wearing a pedometer would actually get people motivated to start moving. As it turns out, yes it does.

NPR reports that, “Once given pedometers, the study volunteers reduced their daily sitting time from 4 hours a day to 3.3 hours a day, on average. They also increased their their physical activity and lowered their body mass index.”

The scientist in charge of the study was, Jeanne Johnson associate professor in the department of kinesiology at Indiana University-Bloomington’s School of Public Health. Johnson suggests that pedometers are good for “people on the lower end of continuum who are very sedentary or just becoming active. The first time these people wear pedometers, they are surprised by how little they move. Then they enable the person to set goals”.

This study is consistent with previous ones including a large review study in 2007 that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The 2007 study found that people who used pedometers had significant increases in physical activity and significant decreases in BMI and blood pressure.

So if you need some help gettin’ off the couch, try using a pedometer. And luckily, Rock Bottom Fitness has the most high-tech pedometers at the lowest prices!