Can 20 minutes of daily exercise offset risk from sedentary lifestyle?

[ad_1]

How much exercise do we need to overcome the negative effects of sitting for long periods of time? A new study provides clues. Elena Kharichkina/Stocksy
  • A new study indicates that about 22 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day could eliminate the increased risk of death associated with a sedentary lifestyle.
  • The more people exercise, the lower their risk of death.
  • Study findings suggest that daily exercise can be done all at once or in exercise “snacks” throughout the day.

A new study shows that a person can lose weight mortality risk With far less exercise than one might think.

Studies show that just 22 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day can reduce one’s risk of dying prematurely as a result. sedentary lifestyle,

beneficial effects of exercise Of course, these are dose dependent, so the more exercise, the greater the reduction in mortality risk, up to a point.

The study authors tracked 11,989 people who participated in several fitness-tracker-based studies: the Norwegian Tromsø Study, the Swedish Healthy Aging Initiative, the Norwegian National Physical Activity Survey, and the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Everyone in the study was at least 50 years old and told researchers about their weight, height, gender, educational level, alcohol use, smoking and any previous events. cancer, cardiovascular diseaseOr diabetes,

Of the participants, 5,943 individuals sat for less than 10.5 hours per day, while 6,042 individuals sat for 10.5 or more hours per day. The researchers aimed to assess the effect of sedentary time and physical activity on mortality risk obtained from death registries.

For people who exercised less than 22 minutes a day, sitting for more than 12 hours increased the risk of death by 38% compared with sitting for 8 hours.

World Health Organization (WHO) Recommends 150-300 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise or at least 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week, or a combination of the two.

The study was published in British Journal of Sports Medicine,

The first author of the study, Dr. Edward H. SegelvThe professor from UiT, the Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø, said: “The research field is a bit divided on how dangerous sedentary time is. I would say that compared to no physical activity, sedentary time is not as dangerous.

“However, previous research indicates that more sedentary time is increasing the risk of disease and premature death,” he said.

Dr. Tracy L. zaslow“To put it simply, when we’re sedentary, we use our muscles less, and It’s use it or lose it. ,

He added, “If we’re not using our legs and core muscles, they’ll become weaker, and then we’ll have less desire to be active because it’ll be harder to walk a little further.”

It also increases the risk of falls, at which point we can suffer injuries that make us even more reluctant to be physically active.

“Remember, the heart is a muscle,” Dr. Zaslow cautioned.

He said the less we engage in activity, the weaker the heart muscle becomes, so physical activity becomes even more challenging as the heart needs to repair itself. Being sedentary is linked to cardiometabolic disease, Dr. Zaslow said.

However, the study focused on older people Dr. Melody Ding“Physical activity is known to provide a variety of benefits, such as mental health, cardiometabolic profiles, and cognitive function,” said Joe, who was not involved in the study.

“There are good reasons to stay active throughout life,” Dr. Ding said.

Dr. Zaslow explained that children also need to build and strengthen muscles through exercise, and doing so sets them up for a lifetime of physical activity.

Additionally, mental health, including reduction in anxiety and depression, is associated with being active. Given the widely reported mental health crisis among young people, Dr. Zaslow said, this is another important benefit.

Exercise also promotes better sleep, she suggested, which will facilitate falling asleep faster and achieving deeper sleep. “We know that when we sleep better, we have less injuries. Therefore, by sleeping more than eight hours, studies have shown that children suffer 50% fewer injuries.

“I view exercise and exercise regularity as an upward process,” Dr. Zaslow said.

Dr. Segelev said the study found 22 minutes of physical activity per day adds up to the 150 minutes recommended by WHO.

“Our study found that individuals who did more than 22 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day had no increased risk of death compared with more sedentary time. This contradicts the WHO recommendation to exceed 150-300 minutes of MVPA per week to deal with the inevitable high sedentary time,” he said.

Regarding more than 22 minutes per day, Dr. Segelov said:

“That’s a beautiful part. There appears to be no upper limit above which it does not provide any health benefits. However, at higher levels, around 60–120 minutes per day, the risk reduction appears to diminish slightly, especially for the highly sedentary.

According to Dr. Zaslow, people don’t need to complete 22 minutes of activity at once each day. previous research, “Exercise snacking” involves 10 minutes here and 15 minutes there, and may be easy for some people to incorporate into their busy lives.

“From public health [perspective], it’s important to remember that doing any MVPA is better than doing nothing. Even if one does not achieve the goal, it is better to try a little more.” Dr. Ding said,

[ad_2]

Source link