We previously brought you the welcome news that housework can actually count as exercise. In fact, scrubbing the floor, clearing out your cupboards or giving the kitchen a declutter can help us to work on our mobility, strength and endurance. And now new research has found that just 22 minutes of cleaning may actually help mitigate the damage of sitting down all day at our desks.

The study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, looked at data from nearly 12,ooo people aged over 50 from Norway, Sweden and the US. All participants were given a fitness tracker to wear to measure their exercise levels. 

Analysing the data, researchers concluded that exercising for 22 minutes every day – taking a brisk walk, doing intensive housework or heading out for a jog, hike or cycle – seems to offset the negative effects of being sedentary and eliminates the risk of early death caused by excessive sitting.

Just under half of participants spent fewer than 10.5 hours sitting down every day, while 6,042 spent 10.5 or more hours being sedentary; 805 died over the five-year follow-up period. 

The study’s author Edvard Sagelv, from the Arctic University of Norway, said: “In our study, every minute [of] higher moderate-to-vigorous physical activity showed a lower risk of death – meaning if people were doing fewer than 22 minutes (such as 10 minutes) there was still a lower risk of death.

“However, doing 22 minutes eliminated the higher risk of death from sedentary time.”

In other words, if you’re active for 22 minutes or more a day, there’s no excess risk from the time spent being sedentary. 

But Sagelv does also say that doing more than 22 minutes a day leads to a lower risk of death overall – so the more active you are, the better. The NHS recommends we do 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise a week, which works out at 21 minutes a day – so this research is yet more proof that these guidelines are worth trying to follow.

It’s also important to note that this study wasn’t just looking at the time spent at a desk; it’s talking about all forms of sitting behaviour, like time spent watching TV on the sofa or inactive commutes. It’s all too easy to underestimate just how long we sit for every day.

This is also just the latest study to confirm the power of small, sustainable movements. Earlier this year, an exciting piece of research confirmed that just 2,300 steps a day was enough to start reaping the heart health benefits of walking – which takes around 15 minutes to complete. 

Throw a seven-minute bathtub scrub on top of that, and you’ve got yourself a desk-busting, cardio-protecting workout.

Images: Getty