Reasonable physical activity is necessary for absolutely everyone. Study after study shows that people who exercise regularly live long and healthy lives. All lifestyle-related serious illnesses – heart disease, diabetes, certain cancers, high blood pressure – are less likely to affect us if we play sports. So what are unsportsmanlike people to do?
When you look at it, there are three options: do nothing, do the minimum, or do a lot. You will be surprised to know that the difference between no exercise and light exercise is much larger than the difference between minimal and vigorous exercise. In other words, doing a little bit is much more rewarding than doing nothing at all.
I found confirmation of this theory in American Medical Association’s journal Internal Medicine… The authors of the article wanted to test the relevance of the government’s 2008 recommendations for Americans about physical activity. These guidelines are a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week or 75 minutes of high-intensity exercise per week. In other words, you need to exercise daily for either 20 minutes at a moderate pace, or about 10 minutes intensively.
In a new report, scientists analyzed data on more than 660 American and European men and women from previous studies. Those who followed the guidelines for the minimum recommended amount of physical activity, the risk of premature death was reduced by a third. Not too bad for a daily XNUMX minute walk!
But here’s a more interesting finding: if you surpassed the recommended minimum by two or three times, you are only marginally ahead of the “moderate.”
Other studies support the theory that the first minimal workouts will bring you the most results. For example, we know that it is terribly harmful for your health to sit in front of a computer hour after hour; for office workers, sitting is a new smoking. A group of researchers from University of Utah School of Medicine was puzzled by the question of how much effort needs to be made to negate the negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle. And they found that getting up and walking for just two minutes every hour reduces the risk of premature death by a third. I wrote about this in this article.
Of course, it is very difficult to start doing even a little if you are used to doing nothing at all. Once you start doing something and get carried away, it’s much easier to move to the next level. It’s easier to go from 10 minutes of exercise to 20 minutes than starting from scratch. But I hope the research results described here turn out to be that magic kick that will send you on your daily walk / run.