When you feel tempted to hit pause on your daily routine for a little recharge, remember that a couple of weeks kicking back can drastically reduce your physical activity – and can hurt your body – according to preliminary research presented at the European Congress on Obesity.
Researchers recruited 28 physically active young males who averaged at least 10,000 steps per day, but didn’t really exercise otherwise. They told the participants to cut their daily step count by 80 per cent, or to about 1500 steps per day.
After two weeks, scientists noticed some significant changes in the participants’ body compositions, even though they didn’t eat any differently during that time.
They gained about a pound in total body weight, lost about 0.8 pound of muscle mass, and performed worse on a test of cardio-respiratory fitness.
They also saw an increases in waist size, central fat percentage, and triglyceride levels.
Central fat is related to visceral fat, the kind deep within your abdominal cavity around vital organs like your liver and pancreas. This kind of fat is more metabolically harmful, and can lead put you at risk of heart disease and diabetes, says study author Daniel Cuthbertson, Ph.D., of the University of Liverpool.
Decreases in muscle mass can also raise your diabetes risk, too. It can make you become less sensitive to insulin, he says – meaning that your body would need more and more of the hormone to keep its blood sugar levels in check.
While the effects of the two-week study don’t seem that major, they’re likely to be compounded if your reduction in activity continues long-term. It’s similar to starting a sedentary desk job, where you stay seated all day, commute by car, and don’t get any other exercise throughout the day, either.
