According to a new survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), only about 47% of Americans meet at least one of the recommended levels of weekly physical activity — 150 minutes of moderate exercise and two days of muscle strengthening per week. Around 22% to 29% meet both recommendations.

One reason is that 80% of jobs require mostly sedentary activities. Physically demanding jobs account for less than 20% of employment, which is down from nearly 50% of jobs in 1960. 

What can you do to shake off the health hazards — including heart disease, diabetes, and obesity — that are associated with a sedentary job?

A new study in JAMA Network Open shows that every little bit of forward motion helps. The researchers looked at 481,688 people for around 13 years and found that anyone who had a mostly sit-down job had a 34% higher risk of cardiovascular disease and a 16% higher risk of dying from any cause compared to those who mostly were standing while working.

The good news is that they also found you can start small to reverse the effects of being sedentary.

When people who sit a lot at work and get only 15 to 29 minutes of leisure time physical activity daily add in just 15 minutes a day of exercise, they upgrade their health. Sedentary people getting 0-15 minutes of leisure time activity daily need to add 30 minutes.

To begin to move more every day, discover programs offering vigorous exercise, interval walking, and strength training at LomgevityPlaybook.com.