Your Chair Could Age You By 8 Years

For those tirelessly looking for the next anti-aging miracle, it may be time to reconsider the powerful benefits of, well, sitting less. Sitting for more than 10 hours a day can age your body by eight years, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Researchers from the University of California San Diego analyzed blood samples from nearly 1,500 women older than 64, and found that too much time spent sitting, in addition to not getting the recommended 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity a day, impacted their bodies on a cellular level.

Researchers compared telomere length — the “shoelace”-like tip at the end of our cells, whose length indicates how cells age — and compared it to activity levels recorded by wearable devices.

Within the subset of women who didn’t get the 30 minutes of recommended daily exercise, those who sat for 10 or more hours a day had shorter telomeres than those who sat less — an indication the cells were older by about eight years.

This study adds to mounting research about how sitting can impact everything from heart health to diabetes. And while exactly how much exercise you need to offset the detrimental effects of sitting is still uncertain, getting moving is a good start. Not convinced? Here are more science-backed reasons to get up.