Put Down that Remote: Increase Physical Activity without Turning off the TV

Cara Stewart, RD, LDN, member of the Penn Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery team, discusses a recent study that shows the health benefits of physical activity during television viewing. 

Have you been trying to figure out how to incorporate more exercise into your lifestyle?  A recent study published in the American College of Sports Medicine’s Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise journal shows that you don’t even have to turn off the television to fit in a daily workout.

Researchers found that stepping in place and walking on a treadmill during television commercials significantly increase physical activity and can actually constitute a workout. They studied a group of 23 men and women, ages 18 to 65 and representing a variety of weights, and measured their calorie expenditure at rest and at different levels of activity while watching television.

Their findings show that stepping in place during the commercials of one hour of television burns an average of 146 calories per hour and results in average of 2,111 steps. Walking on a treadmill at three miles per hour for the same time period burns an average of 304 calories per hour. Both represent significant increases in physical activity when compared to remaining sedentary, which produces minimal, if any, calorie expenditure. 

So, the next time you sit down to watch your favorite television program, try moving your feet during the commercial breaks! It is an easy opportunity to burn calories and become a healthier you without missing a single minute or episode of the television shows you love.

- Cara Stewart