Want a good workout? Leave your phone at home!

Want to get every perk possible from your power walk? Turn off your smartphone, suggests a new study which found that talking or texting on a cell phone during exercise lowers the intensity of a workout and affects balance. Michael Rebold, assistant professor at Hiram College in the US found that cell phone texting and talking can have a negative effect on one's balance during everyday activities.

This is the first known study to examine the effects of cell phone use on postural stability. "If you are talking or texting on your cell phone while you are putting in your daily steps, your attention is divided by the two tasks and that can disrupt your postural stability, and therefore, possibly predispose individuals to other greater inherent risks such as falls and musculoskeletal injuries," said Rebold.

The study, which examined 45 college students, showed that cell phone texting during exercise significantly impacts postural stability - by 45 per cent - when compared to no cell phone use. The investigation also showed that talking on a cell phone while exercising reduces postural stability by 19 per cent.

Listening to music on a cell phone, on the other hand, has no notable impact on postural stability during exercise, the study showed. The study appears in the journal Computers in Human Behaviour.