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The science

What happens when you break up hours of sitting.

Researchers compared hours of sitting without a break with the same hours broken up by short breaks to move. These are their findings, each with its source.

Raj stands beside his desk with his eyes closed, taking a long breath.
  1. 01

    Blood sugar after meals

    A meta-analysis of 37 trials found that breaking up prolonged sitting with activity breaks moderately lowered the rise in blood sugar and insulin after meals. A second systematic review found that regular activity breaks lowered both, compared with sitting without breaks.

  2. 02

    Blood pressure

    A systematic review of 45 studies found that breaking up or reducing sitting time improves cardiovascular measures, blood pressure above all, and that walking breaks helped the most.

  3. 03

    Energy and fatigue

    In a trial with 30 adults who sat most of the day, six 5-minute walks, one every hour, raised their sense of energy and lowered fatigue compared with a day of sitting without a break. A meta-analysis of 22 study samples found small but statistically significant effects of micro-breaks on vigour and fatigue.

How often, and how

Every 30 minutes or sooner

A meta-analysis of crossover trials found a larger drop in blood sugar when sitting was broken up at least every 30 minutes than with less frequent breaks, though the authors rated the evidence as low quality.

Walking does more than standing

In one-day trials, mostly in adults with overweight or obesity, light walking breaks lowered blood sugar and insulin after meals compared with sitting, and more than standing breaks did.

Sources

These studies looked at activity breaks in general. None of them tested Betterlive.

  1. Meta-analysis of 37 trials on breaking up sitting, blood sugar and insulin. PubMed ↗
  2. Systematic review and meta-analysis of activity breaks, blood sugar and insulin. PubMed ↗
  3. Meta-analysis of walking and standing breaks during one-day sitting trials. PubMed ↗
  4. Meta-analysis of how often sitting is broken up and blood sugar. PubMed ↗
  5. Systematic review of 45 studies on sitting time and blood pressure. PubMed ↗
  6. Randomised trial of hourly 5-minute walks, energy, mood and fatigue. PubMed ↗
  7. Meta-analysis of 22 study samples on micro-breaks, vigour and fatigue. PubMed ↗

The sitting happens during your work hours, so that is where Betterlive puts the breaks.

Tell the desktop app when your day starts and how long it runs. Each break covers every screen with one move, or two, never more than 60 seconds in total.

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