2 . Are you sitting more than ever?     1     You’re probably sitting while reading this. Sometimes you sit when you are driving or attending a meeting. Other times you sit when you engage yourself in watching a movie or playing computer games. That’s undoubtedly a lot of sitting. The fact is, the amount of time spent sitting has increased over time.     2    

We know sitting too much is bad, and most of us naturally feel a little guilty after a long-time TV watching.     3     A study on nearly 8,000 adults suggests that there’s a direct relationship between the time spent sitting and our risk of early death of any cause. As the total sitting time increases, so does the risk of early death.

“Sit less, move more” is what the Heart Association encourages us to do.     4     It is like telling someone to just ”exercise“ without telling them how. Exercise guidelines are always more practical. For example, the Center for Disease Control recommends adults do exercise for two hours and 30 minutes every week, plus muscle strengthening activities two or more days a week. We need similar guidelines for sitting.

    5     “It would probably be like, for every 30 continuous minutes of sitting, stand up and move or walk for five minutes at a quick pace,” Diaz, the lead researcher said, adding that the study has put us a step closer to the satisfying guidelines. But more researches are needed to confirm their approach.

3 . You’ve probably heard that you need to move more throughout the day, and as a general rule of thumb, “more” is often defined as around 10,000 steps. Many people use the 10,000-step rule as their marker for healthy living. As more people track their steps by fitness-tracking wearable or their iPhones, more of them do that.

But while sitting less is a great idea, the step rule isn’t as black and white as one number.

Dr. Creg Hager, professor at Johns Hopkins, decided to take a closer look at whether the step rule is accurate, and he found asking everyone to shoot for 10,000 steps each day could be harmful to the elderly, or the level of exercise could make it unwise for those with medical conditions. He also noted that those with shorter legs have an easier time hitting the 10,000-step goal because they have to take more steps than loge-egged people to cover the distance.

How many steps can help keep healthy and promote longevity (长寿) on earth?

Researchers found that women taking 4,400 steps per day were about 40% less likely to die during a follow-up period of just over four years, compared to those who took 2,700 steps. Women in the study who walked more than 7,500 steps each day got no extra in longevity. The bottom line is that 10,000 steps may be too many for some and too few for others. Some of that has to do with age but nothing to do with health and longevity. The study included nearly 17,000 women with an average age of 72.

The point of these studies isn’t to say we should abandon step goals and fitness trackers altogether. The key is finding the step goal that matches your individual health according to your doctor or fitness instructor, and then using your fitness tracker and other proper methods to help achieve those goals.

6 . Yoga is a discipline I’ve long been a fan of, and I practise sun salutations (拜日式) several times a week. I know it does me good and now I have to add another benefit — it could be a life saver for people recovering from a heart attack.

I’m not at all surprised to learn that an Indian study of almost 2,500 people recovering from heart surgery found breathing exercises and stretching boosted circulation and strengthened the heart Furthermore, the researchers claimed a three-month programme of yoga while recovering from surgery after a heart attack resulted in a lower risk of being bit by another.

Better sill, people who did a daily hour of breathing exercises and gentle movement were about 16% less likely to die over the next five years. Why? Tests showed participants’ hearts were pumping blood around the body more efficiently.

Lead researcher Professor Naresh Sen, from Jaipur, said, “Patients undertook three months of a Dew daily one-hour programme specifically designed for patients who have heart diseases, combining yoga with meditation in the morning, and a pattern of breathing exercises, comprising slow and fast breathing elements in the evening. Yoga and breathing exercises may reduce metabolic (新陈代谢的) stress, reduce oxygen demand and prevent ventricular remodelling (damage to the heart).”

Yoga performed well given tat the trial involved patients who bad suffered the most serious type of heart attack, where one of the major arteries is blocked. All bad undergone surgery to widen the vessels, using a stent (支架) to allow blood to flow more freely. Half the patients were then put on a three-month programme of yoga Over the next five years, the patients in the yoga group were 16% less likely to die. There was an unexpected bonus too, heart performance was improved, with an 1I% boost to its ability to pump blood round the body. Those who didn’t do yoga saw an increase of only 4%.