The experts recommend a minimum amount of exercise every day for the best health. New research is suggesting that even people who meet and even exceed those minimums might still be at an increased risk of a number of health conditions directly related to how much they sit each day. That's right. Even people who are getting more than the recommended amount of exercise are at risk for health related conditions like heart disease and diabetes because of the amount of time they spend sitting down.

Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine conducted a study using just under one hundred healthy and active women, ages forty to seventy five. Each of those women reportedly got at least 150 minutes of exercise per week or more. According to the study's author, Lynette L. Craft, PhD. and Adjunct Professor at the medical school, even these women, who each exceeded the minimum requirement for exercise sat an average of nine hours or more each day.

Several theories about why excess sitting increases your risk of health problems abound but boil down to two main points. The first suggests that excessive sitting may change the way the body responds to glucose and how it releases insulin in response to it. The second suggests that the excessive amount of time spent sitting may have a direct change in how fat is metabolized by the body. The longer that you sit each day, the more these risks may impact your health, especially if you are already overweight.

The study's authors agree that there is no way to eliminate all sitting from the day, especially if you have to drive or otherwise commute to work. Many jobs require hours behind a desk, however, so it is important to try to stand up and move around whenever possible. Many people, even those in higher profile occupations have adapted and have started using the treadmill desk which allows them to stand and to move, even while typing on the computer or writing on paperwork. Others can use moments like phone calls or other daily activities as an excuse to get up and move more. There are also a number of very simple suggestions that include walking to tell someone something rather than sending an email or instant message from your desk and filling your water cup with only a small amount so that you have to continually go back and refill it.