POTSDAM — The early months of the COVID-19 pandemic saw stay at home orders issued across the United States. Millions of people’s lives and routines were completely changed, claims a press release from Clarkson University. For many, that meant their lifestyle changed too, the press release said.

A new study by researchers at several universities, including Clarkson, found that during COVID-19 people across the country are sitting longer -- but they’re also exercising more.

Ali Boolani, an Associate Professor of Physical Therapy at Clarkson University, and Jacob Meyer, Assistant Professor of Kinesiology at Iowa State University, and their fellow researchers conducted a study in April during the initial COVID-19 lockdown phase, according to the press release.

After surveying more than 5,000 US adults they found that more than 42% of them reported sitting for more than 8 hours per day, at the same time nearly 73% of the group reported they exercised at least 150 minutes per week, the recommended minimum amount of time adults get in physical exercise each week, by the American Heart Association.

“Unfortunately we think that being physically active can eliminate the negative health effects of sitting. However, research shows that it requires 60-75 minutes of exercise to eliminate the deleterious effects of sitting for 8 hours+ a day. With cases rising and many of us working remote or shifting to remote work again, for our mental and physical health, we need to make it a priority to limit sedentary behavior, and not solely focus on increasing our physical activity” Boolani said.

Sitting and activity appeared similar between sexes, while there was evidence of some age differences. For example, more young adults (ages 18–34) self-reported being inactive, and more appeared to sit for more than 8 hours a day compared to older adults.

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