A new study has shown that leg movements can protect blood vessels in the legs and help prevent arterial disease.
If you have to sit in front of a computer or TV, you should regularly move your legs. A new study published in the American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology has shown that leg-sitting movements can protect blood vessels in the legs and help prevent arteries.
Jaume Padilla, the lead author of the study, an associate professor at the University of Missouri, Columbia, though arguing that leg movement would increase blood flow to the limbs, was surprised by this. Enough to prevent artery function decline.
The researchers compared the leg vein function of 11 healthy men and women before and after 3 hours of continuous sitting.
Participants were asked to sit with their feet one after the other, panting their feet for a minute and then resting for four minutes, while the rest of the foot was still in place. On average, they move their feet 250 times per minute.
Subsequently, researchers assessed the blood circulation of the arteries - an artery in the lower leg - and found that the foot movement had a significant increase in blood circulation as expected, while the legs were not positioned decreased blood flow.
Although only one leg was moving in the test, researchers recommended that both legs be moved for better performance.
However, researchers have warned that such locomotor movements can not be a substitute for walking and exercise - good cardiovascular exercises in general.
"You should try to limit sitting in place by standing up or walking, but if for some reason you can not walk, leg movement is a good choice," says Padilla. Which is even better than not.