Manoush Zomorodi, the host of TED Radio Hour, and Keith Diaz, a behavioral medicine expert at Columbia University, dive into the surprising impact of frequent movement breaks on health and productivity. They discuss a large-scale study that demonstrated how short bouts of exercise can significantly reduce fatigue and improve emotional well-being. The duo also explores transforming movement into automatic routines and fostering a culture of activity, offering practical ideas to integrate more movement into daily life.
Integrating small, frequent movement breaks into the workday improves fatigue levels and emotions.
Developing the habit of taking movement breaks and finding natural cues is crucial for success.
Deep dives
Movement breaks improve fatigue levels and emotions
Preliminary findings from a study conducted by Columbia University Medical Center showed that integrating five-minute gentle movement breaks into the workday resulted in improved fatigue levels, positive emotions, and decreased negative emotions for participants. The study revealed a dose-response relationship, with the group that took the most breaks every half hour experiencing the greatest improvements. The group that moved every half hour improved fatigue levels by about 30%, the group that moved every hour improved by about 25%, and the group that moved every two hours improved by about 20%. Despite some challenges with compliance, with 40% of participants dropping out, about 82-83% of those who stuck with the movement breaks reported liking the intervention. The aim now is to create habits around incorporating movement breaks into daily routines.
Acceptability and feasibility of movement breaks
Participants in the study responded positively to movement breaks, with about 82-83% of them reporting that they liked incorporating them into their routine. However, when it came to feasibility, only about 50% of those who moved every half hour found it doable, compared to 70% for those who moved every hour, and 80% for those who moved every two hours. On average, the group that moved every half hour took eight breaks a day, falling short of the recommended 16 breaks for an eight-hour workday. Developing the habit of taking movement breaks is crucial going forward, with suggestions of cues such as finishing a work meeting or a task as prompts for incorporating breaks naturally.
Impact and potential of movement breaks
The study's findings resonated with participants, many of whom found the movement breaks to be life-changing. Improved mood, energy, and even life decisions were reported by individuals who took part in the study. The hope now is for the movement break initiative to spread by word of mouth, with participants encouraged to involve their families, friends, and colleagues in incorporating movement breaks into their own routines. Future research will continue to explore the benefits of movement breaks and ways to sustain and expand the momentum gained from this study.
If you work at home or in an office, you might spend a lot of your day sitting down and staring at a computer screen. That can have lots of negative effects – but it's hard to carve out significant time in the day to counteract that.
Our friends at NPR's TED Radio Hour wanted to know if small, frequent movement breaks might do the trick instead. Along with Columbia University Medical Center, they conducted a study of over 20,000 listeners and asked them to incorporate these movement breaks into their day. Today on the show, TED Radio Hour's Manoush Zomorodi digs into the surprising preliminary results with Columbia University researcher Keith Diaz.
Ideas to get moving? We want to hear them!Get in touch at shortwave@npr.org.