Need to counteract your sedentary lifestyle? Here's how much exercise you actually need!
| Apr 29, 2019, 15:48 IST
We're already aware that certain amounts of exercise are essential for the body to be fit and healthy. If you're amongst the many people who lead a sedentary lifestyle, you need to get moving if you want your health to improve. A new study has shown that exercising for just 20-40 minutes a day is good enough to eliminate the health risks that are caused by sitting around all day. Most people spend their days sitting, standing or walking and too much of each of these can have a negative impact on their health.
While standing for too long can lead to lower back issues, walking too much can cause problems in the joints and sitting for too long can up the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Then there are also people who sit for long hours but still get the amount of exercise they need. Say they take a 20-minute walk to and from work and run two to three times a week. This is enough exercise one person needs for one week.
So, while it is known that you need to exercise to help get rid of health risks, what was unknown was how much do you need to exercise to do so. A study was conducted on almost 150,000 Australian middle-aged and older adults all over the age of 45 years. These people were closely surveyed for almost nine years and certain links were tried to be made, like the link between sitting and physical activity as well as links between lack of physical activity and cardiovascular diseases and death.
It was then estimated that people who exercised more were at a much lower risk of dying from heart-related health issues. So, say if you went out running, cycling or even just brisk walking, these exercises were enough to keep you healthy. They found that people who sat for long hours and did no exercise were at 107% higher risk of dying from cardiovascular diseases as compared to people who did at least one activity per day and sat for less than four hours.
But what also needs to be remembered is that merely sitting less is not enough. One also needs to include the appropriate amounts of exercise in their routine. If people sat for six hours and opted for low activity exercises, their risk of developing cardiovascular diseases reduced by 20%. And if people opted for moderate to high activity exercises, the risk dropped by 64% which is rather impressive.
Most adults don't exercise because they don't have the time or energy to exercise. They work for long hours and bear too many responsibilities to think about physical activity. Which is why the researchers recommend that people should try to find ways to incorporate new approaches to exercise. For example, if you walk to work, try walking faster or if you're at work and want some activity, try taking the stairs instead of the lift. This way, things will work well for you even if you've not opted for a proper exercise routine. Stay tuned for more updates.
While standing for too long can lead to lower back issues, walking too much can cause problems in the joints and sitting for too long can up the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Then there are also people who sit for long hours but still get the amount of exercise they need. Say they take a 20-minute walk to and from work and run two to three times a week. This is enough exercise one person needs for one week.
So, while it is known that you need to exercise to help get rid of health risks, what was unknown was how much do you need to exercise to do so. A study was conducted on almost 150,000 Australian middle-aged and older adults all over the age of 45 years. These people were closely surveyed for almost nine years and certain links were tried to be made, like the link between sitting and physical activity as well as links between lack of physical activity and cardiovascular diseases and death.
It was then estimated that people who exercised more were at a much lower risk of dying from heart-related health issues. So, say if you went out running, cycling or even just brisk walking, these exercises were enough to keep you healthy. They found that people who sat for long hours and did no exercise were at 107% higher risk of dying from cardiovascular diseases as compared to people who did at least one activity per day and sat for less than four hours.
But what also needs to be remembered is that merely sitting less is not enough. One also needs to include the appropriate amounts of exercise in their routine. If people sat for six hours and opted for low activity exercises, their risk of developing cardiovascular diseases reduced by 20%. And if people opted for moderate to high activity exercises, the risk dropped by 64% which is rather impressive.
Most adults don't exercise because they don't have the time or energy to exercise. They work for long hours and bear too many responsibilities to think about physical activity. Which is why the researchers recommend that people should try to find ways to incorporate new approaches to exercise. For example, if you walk to work, try walking faster or if you're at work and want some activity, try taking the stairs instead of the lift. This way, things will work well for you even if you've not opted for a proper exercise routine. Stay tuned for more updates.