Association of Multiple Short Exercise Bouts and Health Benefits in Sedentary Office Workers

Abstract

Recent studies strongly suggest that increased sitting time is an independent risk factor contributing to increased incidence of heart disease and various negative health outcomes, including diabetes and some cancer. For many adults, sedentary behavior is particularly widespread at the workplace in the US. American College of Sports Medicine recommends that adults exercise for 150 minutes at a moderate‐intensity per week and exercise (i.e., walking or running) continue at least 10 minutes at a time. However, office workers are difficult to leave their workplace during the workday to do exercise. Also, little is known about the effects of short‐time (5 minutes per hour) aerobic and stretching exercises at the workplace on heart function and physical fitness. Thus, better understanding the effects of short‐time aerobic and stretching exercises in sedentary office workers may lead to new strategies to prevent or treat sedentary‐induced high risks of heart and metabolic diseases.PurposeThe aim of this study was to determine the effects of short‐time aerobic and stretching exercises in sedentary office workers to improve cardiovascular endurance, cardiac function and body composition.MethodsTwelve sedentary office workers (BMI≤30, exercise≤30 minutes per week for ≥6 months) were recruited (35.8±8.8 yrs, n=12). Each participant completed 8 weeks of self‐exercise training at their worksite. Exercise training included cardio (5 minutes/session, 6 sessions/day) and stretching (10 minutes/session, twice/day) exercises regimen for 8 weeks. Pre and post‐testing evaluations included anthropometric measures (height and weight), blood lipid profile, body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage (% body fat), maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) and cardiac output at 50% of a subject's VO2max, muscle strength test (hand grip strength and quadriceps muscle strength), and YMCA flexibility test. A paired t‐test was used to compare differences in variables between pre‐ and post tests.ResultsThere were significant differences in BMI (p=0.009), body weight (p=0.002), VO2max (p<0.001), cardiac output (p=0.027), %body fat (p=0.002), flexibility (p<0.001), HDL (p=0.024), total cholesterol (p=0.007), and quadriceps muscle strength (p<0.001). However, there were no differences in upper body muscle strength, total triglyceride, and VLDL.ConclusionsEight weeks of aerobic and flexibility exercise at their workplace may be beneficial to improve cardiovascular fitness, body composition, and flexibility in sedentary office workers. These findings may support that 5‐minute aerobic exercise several times per day can contribute to further health improvements, especially for those who cannot find 30 minutes and longer time for exercise at their workplace. Overall, our study may indicate short bouts of exercise during the work hours can be helpful for those sedentary adults having difficulty in self‐motivating themselves to exercise.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.