Researchers are finding more and more evidence that chairs are bad for your health. To be more precise, sitting in them too often seems to be unhealthy.

In a new study, researchers started following more than 222,000 middle-aged and older adults. They all answered a simple question: How many hours a day do you spend sitting? More than 5,400 participants died during the next three years. People who spent at least 11 hours per day sitting were 40% more likely to die than those who spent less than four hours per day in a chair. Even healthy people, thin people and people who were often physically active who sat more had a higher risk of dying.

When the researchers crunched the numbers, they estimated that nearly 7% of these deaths were due to all this sitting.

Experts recommend that we get at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity each week to protect our health. That's a small amount compared to the 6,500 other minutes we're awake each week. Taking plenty of breaks from your chair to walk or stand, in addition to regular exercise, may add years to your life.