One hour of physical activity per day could offset health risk of 8 hours of sitting

EPTI

A Lancet study comprising of more than 1 million people has found that the health risks associated with sitting for long periods of the day can be reduced or even eliminated by regular physical activity.

The research, using the data of people from the USA, Western Europe and Australia was carried out in response to rising concerns about the health risks associated with society’s shift towards a more sedentary lifestyle. With more and more of the population employed in office based jobs, there’s a greater number of people that cannot escape sitting at their desks for prolonged periods of time.

Physical inactivity is linked to higher risks of diabetes, heart disease and some cancers and is associated with more than 5 million deaths per year.

The good news is that the increased risk of death associated with sitting for 8 hours a day can be reduced or even eliminated for those that did a minimum of 1 hour physical activity (such as brisk walking or cycling) per day.

The findings show that people who sat for 8 hours per day but who are physically active had a much lower risk of death compared to those people who sat for less hours per day, but who were not physically active. The greatest risk to health is for people that sit for long periods of time and inactive.

60-75 minutes of moderate activity is ideal to combat the effects of sitting for long periods of time, but if this is not possible, then at least doing some exercise each day can help reduce the risk.

This study therefore underlines the fundamental importance of physical activity to health, no matter how many hours an individual spent sitting.

The World Health Organisation recommend that adults do 150 minutes of physical activity per week, which is much lower then the 60-75 minutes identified in the study. Rather alarmingly, the need for progress has been highlighted by the study however, as it reveals that only 25% of those people analysed were active for an hour or more each day.

Reference:
The Lancet Physical Activity Series 2012 http://www.thelancet.com/series/physical-activity

Read more about the impact to health from a sedentary lifestyle in my earlier blog:
“HOW SITTING IS WORSE FOR YOUR HEALTH THAN SMOKING”

EREPS Membership with EPTI Fitness Qualifications

As many of our PT Diploma students are based in Malta, Spain and scattered across mainland Europe in general, we thought that we'd put together a short blog to help students join EREPS should they wish to.

It’s an extremely easy process, since the Active IQ qualifications are recognised by both REPS and CIMSPA in the UK who both have qualification standard agreements with EREPS in Europe.

 

The EREPS Registration Process:

1. Click on the EREPS Membership Registration page:

2. Once on this page, you will need to upload your CV and digital scans of your official fitness certificates for the level you choose. Be aware that the Active IQ Level 2 Fitness Instructor certificate is Level 3 in EREPS; and the Active IQ Level 3 Personal Trainer certificate is Level 4 in EREPS.

3. The cost for 1 year’s membership of ERPES is €30. EREPS will review your application and if you have qualified through EPTI and had the relevant Active IQ certificates, you will soon be accepted as a professional member of EREPS.

4. You will need to provide details of your indemnity insurance policy. For our Personal Training Diploma graduates in Malta, we have partnered with a Maltese insurance company who can provide a tailored professional indemnity insurance product to safeguard your liability in the case of injury or an accident. The cost of 1 year’s insurance is approx €120-€150 depending on location.

Kindly note that our partner insurance company in Malta require you to be a member of EREPS before they issue cover. Therefore, when making the initial EREPS application, tick the option of “not yet insured and not yet practising” to obtain your membership number.
Once you have then obtained your insurance, upload your insurance details and quickly amend your EREPS membership to “practising PT with insurance” by ticking this option.


Malta Indemnity Insurance Application:

Click the link below to request an insurance application form (Malta only).
Please give your full name and Maltese ID number for our reference.

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