--- description: All those workouts won’t do much to lower your risk of heart disease or cancer if you sit too much title: It Doesn't Matter How Much You Exercise If You Also Do This image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt335e30a24a2d92a2/6988d47b97cdff3a586b174b/time-magazine-exercise-fitness-health-bethan-mooney-39.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Jan 19, 2015 # It Doesn't Matter How Much You Exercise If You Also Do This by [Alice Park](/author/alice-park/) ## Alice Park Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent  Bethan Mooney for TIME Most of us know that we need to be more physically active. Only 20% of American adults get the recommend amount of physical activity—150 minutes of the moderately intense aerobic kind—each week. But simply moving more isn’t enough, according to a new [report published in the _Annals of Internal Medicine_](http://www.annals.org/article.aspx?doi=10.7326/M14-1651 "undefined"). The benefits of exercise can be blunted if you also spend most of the rest of your day sitting. **MORE** [Sitting Is Killing You](http://time.com/sitting/?iid=time%5Fspeed "undefined") Dr. David Alter, a heart expert from the University of Toronto and senior scientist at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, and his colleagues found that sitting too much—even among people who exercise regularly—led to higher rates of hospitalization, heart disease and cancer, as well as early death. The researchers looked at 47 studies that asked people how much time they spent sitting and exercising, as well as rates of heart disease, diabetes, [cancer](http://time.com/2884953/sitting-can-increase-your-risk-of-cancer-by-up-to-66/ "undefined") and death from any cause. The more hours people in the studies spent sedentary—like watching TV or reclining on a couch—the higher their risk of all of these negative outcomes. Heavy sitters showed a 90% higher risk of developing diabetes than those who sat less, an 18% higher chance of dying of heart disease or cancer, and 24% greater odds of dying from any cause. These rates were the average among people who both exercised regularly and those who did not. **MORE** [Now There’s Another Reason Sitting Will Kill You](http://time.com/8773/now-theres-another-reason-sitting-will-kill-you/?iid=time%5Fspeed "undefined") ### See the 10 Healthiest Cities to Live in America  Honolulu, Hawaii Best Place for Lifelong Health The heavenly climate helps, but the key to well-being here also includes enviable health care and a rich cultural tradition of looking out for one another. Colin Anderson—Blend Images/Corbis  San Francisco Bay Area, Calif. Best Place for Eating Right. The u0022farm to tableu0022 movement began here. The region's bounty of produce and year-round growing season make eating healthy—and local—a natural. Getty Images  u003cstrongu003eBurlington, Vt.u003c/strongu003enu003cemu003eBest Place for Raising Healthy Kidsu003c/emu003enThis New England city offers great schools, excellent pediatric care, loads of culture and limitless options for healthy outdoor fun all year long. Matt Hogan/www.mphoganphoto.com  u003cstrongu003eSilicon Valley, Calif.u003c/strongu003enu003cemu003eBest Place for Workplace Wellnessu003c/emu003enWith treadmill desks, meetings on bikes, time off for creativity, and gobs of organic food, tech titans are reinventing how to stay healthy on the job. Jim Wilson—The New York Times/Redux  u003cstrongu003eMinneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.u003c/strongu003enu003cemu003eBest Place for Aging Wellu003c/emu003enYes, it can be cold. But with a plethora of stimulating activities and a robust web of support, the Twin Cities prove that growing old doesn't mean slowing down. Getty Images  u003cstrongu003eDenver and Boulder, Colo.u003c/strongu003enu003cemu003eBest Place for Keeping Fitu003c/emu003enThe urge to get outside and get moving is contagious in these Rocky Mountain cities, where physical challenge is built into the landscape. Celin Serbo—Aurora Photos/Corbis  u003cstrongu003ePlano, Texasu003c/strongu003enu003cemu003eBest Place for Staying Safeu003c/emu003enOnce a rural outpost, this booming, diverse city has kept its small-town vibe, thanks in part to a police force and community that knows how to work together. Misty Keasler—Redux for TIME  u003cstrongu003ePortland, Ore.u003c/strongu003enBest Place for a Healthy Environmentu003c/emu003enSmall, walkable neighborhoods, 300 miles of bike paths, and urban policies that foster active living and sustainability make for one clean, green city. Getty Images  u003cstrongu003eBoston, Mass.u003c/strongu003enu003cemu003eBest Place for Health Careu003c/emu003enThis history-rich city is home to some of the nation's most advanced medical institutions and policies that help ensure that quality care is available to all. K.C. Cohen—Courtesy of Boston Children's Hospital  u003cstrongu003eProvo and Orem, Utahu003c/strongu003enu003cemu003eBest Place for Spiritual Well-Beingu003c/emu003enA stunning Rocky Mountain backdrop and a tight-knit population that lives its faith contribute not only to this region's serenity but also to lower rates of disease. Getty Images “What struck me, and I was quite surprised by this, was that the deleterious effects of sitting time were almost uniform across the board of total mortality, heart disease mortality, the occurrence of heart disease, the occurrence of cancer and the mortality from cancer,” says Alter. “When we see a consistent effect, that reaffirms that something real is going on.” What’s happening, he suspects, is that the metabolic effects of sitting are overwhelming any benefits that exercise might have. Even if people exercise regularly for half an hour or an hour a day, how they spend the remainder of that day is also important to their health. Alter says that the unhealthy effects of sitting are somewhat reduced among those who are physically active—by about 15%—but they aren’t completely erased. “You can make a little bit of headway on the bad effects of sedentary time by at least doing some exercise,” he says. “But you can’t completely nullify it.” **MORE** [Sitting Can Increase Your Risk of Cancer By Up to 66%](http://time.com/2884953/sitting-can-increase-your-risk-of-cancer-by-up-to-66/?iid=time%5Fspeed "undefined") The only way to do that is to sit less, and not just exercise more. For so long, the public health message has been to move more and squeeze in as much active time as possible into the day. That message is still important, he says, but it needs to change as new research on the dangers of sitting starts to emerge. “It’s time to modify the public health message,” he says. “We still need more research, but there is a signal there that it’s time to do that. We need two different strategies—one that targets exercise for 30 minutes to 60 minutes a day, and the other is to reduce sedentary behavior.” For his patients, Alter starts by helping them realize how much of their day they spend in a chair. There’s no prescription for sitting, and no research yet to support the optimal levels for avoiding cancer or heart disease or early death. But studies have shown that standing burns twice as many calories per hour, about 140, as sitting. And burning extra calories is a good way to maintain a healthy weight, one of the key factors in preventing heart disease and some cancers. “Little things add up to a lot,” says Alter, who says he checks emails while on a elliptical. He also recommends standing up or moving around for several minutes every half hour when you’re at your desk, and aiming to sit two to three hours less in a 12 hour day. If you can’t give up your favorite TV shows, he adds, stand during the commercials. _Read next:_ [_Why You Should Start Forcing Your Coworkers to Take a Walk With You_](http://time.com/3670210/benefits-walking-group-walk/?xid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article "undefined") Exercise Benefits Your Health, But Only If You Sit Less ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/guide-to-exercise/3672428/exercise-sitting/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/guide-to-exercise/3672428/exercise-sitting/"},"headline":"It Doesn't Matter How Much You Exercise If You Also Do This","datePublished":"2015-01-19T22:00:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:06:02.575Z","description":"All those workouts won’t do much to lower your risk of heart disease or cancer if you sit too much","url":"https://time.com/collections/guide-to-exercise/3672428/exercise-sitting/","keywords":["medicine","Cancer","Heart Disease","Sitting"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt335e30a24a2d92a2/6988d47b97cdff3a586b174b/time-magazine-exercise-fitness-health-bethan-mooney-39.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alice Park","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/alice-park/"}],"creator":"Alice Park","articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt335e30a24a2d92a2/6988d47b97cdff3a586b174b/time-magazine-exercise-fitness-health-bethan-mooney-39.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/medicine/","name":"medicine"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/guide-to-exercise/3672428/exercise-sitting/","name":"It Doesn't Matter How Much You Exercise If You Also Do This"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"10 Ways to Be More Active at Work","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/zdNUwr7I/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-01-27T15:44:44.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zdNUwr7I.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/guide-to-exercise/3672428/exercise-sitting/","duration":"PT1M2S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/guide-to-exercise/3672428/exercise-sitting/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Walking While Working","description":"TIME's Belinda Luscombe spends a week on the Steelcase Walkstation: a treadmill-desk combo that lets you exercise and work simultaneously","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/pPPKxsmt/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2008-11-26T22:23:15.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/pPPKxsmt.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/guide-to-exercise/3672428/exercise-sitting/","duration":"PT3M26S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/guide-to-exercise/3672428/exercise-sitting/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```