RESEARCH--Cut your risk of early death by 35 percent.

A new medical study of 8,000 middle-aged and older adults found that replacing a half-hour of sitting with 30 minutes of vigorous exercise cuts the risk of early death by about 35 percent. If the exercise is light, the risk reduction is only 17 percent.

Still, any movement is better than none in a world where so many of us sit so long, at times continuously. It's particularly important to break up continuous sitting. The study authors, from Columbia University, had previously found that moving about for 1-2 minutes every half-hour helps. 

So, set a timer at 30-minutes to remind yourself. Then walk up and down the stairs a bit, and do some squats and push-ups. Or whatever.

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The study subjects had an average age of 45, and wore activity monitors to record their sitting and movement patterns. The paper was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology with the title, "Potential Effects of Replacing Sedentary Time With Short Sedentary Bouts or Physical Activity on Mortality: A National Cohort Study."

Link to press release
Link to scientific abstract