For years many of us have been strapping on our pedometers and marching towards 10,000 steps per day, yet apparently the magic number that we should all be aiming for is 15,000.

New research in The International Journal of Obesity suggests that the recommended number of daily steps may actually fall short in terms of slashing your risk of heart disease.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the postal workers who sat for most of the day also had larger waistlines, higher triglycerides (a type of blood fat), and lower HDL cholesterol (the good kind). On the other hand, the more time postal workers spent upright or walking, the smaller their waistlines, the lower their triglycerides, and the higher their HDL cholesterol.

But the best results belonged to workers who walked 15,000 steps a day (or spent more than seven hours of their day upright). These people had normal metabolic characteristics—and no heightened risk for heart disease.

Dr Mike Knapton, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: "Levels of physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour in the UK remain stubbornly high, and, combined, these two risk factors present a substantial threat to our cardiovascular health and risk of early death."

Evidence shows keeping physically active can reduce the risk of heart and circulatory disease by as much as 35% and risk of early death by as much as 30%.

Health experts recommend that you should take part in at least 150 minutes of exercise per week, this can include anything from a brisk walk to swimming or even household chores such as vacuuming or mowing the lawn. 

In order to maintain overall health it's also recommended that you take part in at least 2 sessions of strengthening exercise per week. This can include anything from yoga, to sit ups and push ups and even carrying the shopping in - strengthening exercises which include all your muscles is key!

So if we really put our minds (and body's) to it, that doesn't sound too hard to achieve does it? But, here's the catch - all of that hard work and exercise is counteracted if you sit for prolonged periods of the day. So if like many, so many of your daily tasks involve you being desk-bound what can you do to avoid being so sedentary? 

Health guidelines state that office workers should try and break up long periods of sitting with gentle low-impact exercise. A treadmill desk, is a great solution for many businesses and users alike, the treadmill desk is a height adjustable desk positioned above a walking treadmill. The walking workstation allows users to keep active at work without breaking away from their desk, workers are simply trading in their desk chair for a treadmill.

Since the launch of The Treadmill Desk Store in 2015 we have sold more than 200 units to businesses and home office users, some of the UK's biggest brands are now walking and working. The health benefits are endless, and the one thing that all health experts can agree on is that the Treadmill Desk promotes better office health and are a great way to reverse our sedentary lifestyles.    

Please get in contact with us if you think you could benefit from a Treadmill Desk.