Sitting too much? Here's what you're risking... 🪑

Have you decided to take charge of your health in 2025? Are you still searching among the dozens of ways to do it which one best suits your interests, schedule, and 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-Laval University (IUCPQ) has a suggestion for you: spend less time sitting and, while you're at it, move around a bit.


"Time spent sitting is associated with several health problems, particularly cardiovascular diseases. Sedentary behaviors are harmful in the short, medium, and long term, and this is not solely due to the fact that being sedentary means missing out on the benefits of physical activity. Sedentary behavior has its own pathophysiological mechanisms that 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 Cardiology, an article reviewing numerous studies establishing links between sedentary behavior and health problems. "Sedentary behavior can damage your heart and vascular system," she summarizes. "When sitting and immobile, there is a decrease in blood flow and a reduction in the forces applied to the walls of blood vessels. To maintain the functionality of the cardiovascular system, it needs to be regularly stimulated."

Based on this literature review, the research team has drawn two conclusions. First, we need to spend less time sitting. Second, we need to integrate active breaks into prolonged periods of sitting.

According to the World Health Organization, health risks increase significantly when exceeding a total of eight hours of sitting per day. "Therefore, we should try to stay below this threshold and intersperse prolonged periods of sitting with breaks as frequently as possible. We can gradually incorporate stretches, walking, or on-the-spot exercises," suggests Professor Piché.

The cardioprotective effects of physical activity manifest as soon as we escape sedentary behavior. "They are even more significant when moving 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 health effects."

Sedentary individuals should avoid setting disproportionate goals, she warns. "We need to proceed gradually with targets that are adapted to our interests and abilities. Not everyone wants to do 150 minutes of cross-country skiing per week. Spending less time sitting, standing up regularly, and moving a bit is within everyone's reach."

The lead author of the study published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology is Julie Riopel-Meunier, a doctoral student at the Faculty of Medicine at Laval University and a 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.