J Sci Med Sport. 2018; 21:708–713

Have you ever considered that sitting is doing you harm? Prolonged inactivity has been linked with many diseases including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Sitting less and exercising more is easier said than done. Increasing the amount of exercise one does can be challenging for a number of reasons. So, do other strategies exist for reducing sedentary behaviour and are they effective?

This randomised controlled trial compared an intervention aiming to increase moderate to vigorous intensity exercise (ExMore—increase moderate to vigorous activity to at least 30 min per day) against decreasing sedentary time (SitLess—reduce sitting time) in inactive obese people. The results revealed improvements in activity time and reduced sedentary time in the ExMore and SitLess groups as expected. Interestingly both groups had significant increases in maximal oxygen consumption. However, no changes were noted in body mass index, waist circumference or blood pressure. Dropouts amounted to 31% of the ExMore group and 23% of the SitLess group.

It appears that with simple approaches we can improve exercise frequency and reduce sitting time in sedentary people. Despite no obvious change in common body measurements, we know …