Everyday Health: Carli Carnish, assistant professor at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, explained the importance of activating your muscles as we get older. 鈥淚 always tell my patients, 鈥業f you don鈥檛 move it, you lose it,鈥欌 said Carnish.
Physical activity has been shown to improve your memory, help you think, and minimize anxiety and depression.[1] But a new study shows that for older adults, regular exercise alone isn鈥檛 enough to reduce Alzheimer鈥檚 disease risk 鈥 they also need to spend less time sitting.[2]
鈥淎 lot of times, people think if they鈥檙e physically active, then they鈥檙e good,鈥 says Marissa Gogniat, PhD, the study鈥檚 lead author and an assistant professor of neurology at the University of Pittsburgh. While decades of research have illustrated the health benefits of exercise, she says less is known about the impact of sitting, even when someone is active.
鈥淓ven though the people in the study were pretty physically active, their sitting was still accounting for more risk for Alzheimer鈥檚,鈥 Dr. Gogniat says.
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How Much Sitting Is Too Much?
The study participants were sitting about 13 hours per day on average. However, researchers didn鈥檛 quantify exactly how much time sitting may lead to cognitive decline.
Generally, there鈥檚 鈥渘ot a magic number鈥 for how much is too much sedentary time, says Carli Carnish, DPN, RN, an assistant professor at the 黑料吃瓜网 School of Nursing in Cleveland.
But the more you sit, she explains, the weaker your muscles often become, which makes it harder to be active. 鈥淚 always tell my patients, 鈥業f you don鈥檛 move it, you lose it,鈥欌 Dr. Carnish says. This can quickly become a downward spiral for older adults, she says.