Who doesn’t know it is important to exercise regularly? The most current guidelines from both government and reputable health organizations is that we should all participate in a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week to build and maintain our health and fitness.
In April, 2015, 2 new studies were published in the Journal of the AMA Internal Medicine. Both studies came to the same conclusion; More Exercise is Better!!!
Here summary of the findings of the 1st study. Researchers from the National Cancer Institute and Harvard University, among others, pooled data of exercise duration of more than 661,000 mostly middle-aged adults:
- Those who exercised a little, but not meeting the minimum recommendations of 150 minutes per week lowered their risk of premature death by 20%
- Those who meet the established guidelines of 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise had a 31% less risk of dying during a 14 year period compared to those who never exercised.
- Those who tripled the recommended level of exercise were 39% less likely to die prematurely than people who never exercised.
The amazing thing is that most of the participants of the survey who tripled the recommendations got their moderate exercise by walking 450 minutes per week, which is a little more than 1 hour a day.
The 2nd study looked at death statistics of 200,000 Australian Adults as it relates to vigorous exercise. This means running versus walking, or playing single tennis versus social doubles tennis. The findings do show a benefit of vigorous exercise:
- Those who spent up to 30% of the weekly exercise in vigorous exercise were 9% less likely to die prematurely than people who exercised for the same amount of time but always moderately
- Those who spent more than 30% of their exercise time in vigorous exercise gained an extra 13% reduction.
So more is better when it comes to exercise! The conclusion of the 2nd study is that “anyone who is physically capable of physical activity should try to reach at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week with around 20-30 minutes being vigorous activity.”
More and more studies show the benefits of exercise for improving health. New research has found exercise to reducing risk of Alzheimer’s disease and making the body more resilient.
The weather is beautiful…get out there and exercise! Remember the more the better! If you are not able to exercise due to pain or stiffness, give us a call and we’ll do our best to get you functional so you can exercise and participate in life. It is never too late to start!