Research indicates that as the number of hours a person spends sitting still each day increases, the risk of developing, and dying from, cardiovascular disease also increases. This information can serve as motivation to pay more attention to how much time you spend sitting still each day.

These findings seem to support what health professionals have been increasingly promoting over the last few years: It really is the little things that count when it comes to improving your health. While exercising for at least 30 minutes a day at least five days a week is still very important for improving your health, it unfortunately does not completely counteract the effects of spending six or more hours sitting the rest of the day.

The good news is that you can make some simple changes to help you move more and burn more calories throughout the entire day. To begin with, simply try standing up more often. By standing up an extra two hours a day, every day for a year, a 190-pound male can lose up to 6.2 pounds, on average, and a 162-pound female can lose an average of 7.5 pounds. So look for every opportunity you have to stand up throughout the day.

If you must stay sitting down, you can still counteract those negative effects by not sitting still. Fidget, move your legs, or lean side to side so you are unstable and have to engage your muscles.

Continue to look for opportunities to get up out of your seat. At work, you can take the stairs instead of the elevator, walk to a co-worker’s desk to have a conversation instead of using email or instant messaging, or hold walking meetings instead of meeting in a conference room. At home, get up and move during commercial breaks, do some light exercise while watching TV, or better yet don’t watch TV at all and do chores or get outside.

Everyone can benefit from being mindful of how much time they spend sitting and looking for ways to move more. It requires little effort to achieve health benefits that can be quite worthwhile!

Reynolds and Reynolds is committed to wellness as a way to help employees develop healthy habits that help them be more productive and engaged, both professionally and personally.