How fidgeting can help you stay healthy: Moving around found to ward off heart disease

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Sitting down can wipe out benefits of exercise session for your heart
Getting up and moving around can stop your fitness levels from dropping
Study suggests sitting may be bad for the heart even for those who exercise
Advice is to shift positions frequently, fidget when you make a phonecall

Published: 19:36 EST, 8 July 2014 | Updated: 19:36 EST, 8 July 2014

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Fidgeting could help ward off heart disease, medical researchers have said.

Sitting down for long periods can wipe out the benefits of an exercise session for your heart, a study by cardiologists at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre found.

Desk-bound employees who squeeze in a gym session in their lunch breaks may be doing no more than simply cancelling out the effects of their morning at a computer, it suggests.

Stretch your legs: Sitting down for long periods can wipe out the benefits of an exercise session for your heart, a study by cardiologists at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre found

But getting up and moving around can stop your fitness levels from dropping – and keep your heart healthy.

Lead researcher Dr Jarett Berry said: ‘Avoiding sedentary behaviour throughout the day may represent an important companion strategy to improve fitness and health, outside of regular exercise activity.’

The study looked at 2,223 men and women with no known history of heart disease, asthma or strokes and measured their fitness and sedentary behaviour.

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It found sitting down for two hours can be just as harmful as 20 minutes of exercise is beneficial.

Spending long periods sitting down has always been associated with raising the risk of heart disease but it has assumed that exercise can help eliminate this risk.

But this study suggests too long in a chair or sofa may be bad for the heart even for those who do exercise, according Dr Berry.

Don't sit still: Shift positions frequently, advises Dr Jacquelyn Kulinski, get up and stretch in the middle of a thought, pace while on a phone call, or even fidget

Dr Jacquelyn Kulinski said: ‘When sitting for prolonged periods, any movement is good movement.

'So shift positions frequently, get up and stretch in the middle of a thought, pace while on a phone call, or even fidget.’

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Syzygy, Parts Unknown, Canada, moments ago

So, all those years that my parents told me to "stop fidgeting" was making me unhealthy? Who knew?

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Just Me, The North, United Kingdom, 32 minutes ago

Well I should be a super person then I have fidgeted all my life, even in my sleep. But believe me I feel better than no one else.

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skidoddy, Steyning, United Kingdom, 1 hour ago

I Would Love One Of These Machines, But Looking At The Costs, I Will Never Get One... £1500 For A Treadmill Desk...

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Bert Dock, Liverpool, 2 hours ago

Invest in a flea ridden cat in your home. You will always be on the move. And with a bit of effort you might even form a flea circus to keep you entertained.