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Making day-to-day activities more vigorous for a few minutes — such as briefly stepping up the pace of a walk — could offer people who don’t exercise some of the health benefits that exercisers enjoy.

That’s according to a new study of roughly 25,000 adults who reported no exercise in their free time. Those who incorporated three one- to two-minute bursts of intense activity per day saw a nearly a 40 percent drop in the risk of death from any cause compared with those whose days didn’t include such activity. The risk of death from cancer also fell by nearly 40 percent, and the risk of death from cardiovascular disease dropped almost 50 percent, researchers report online December 8 in Nature Medicine.

In a comparison with around 62,000 people who exercised regularly, including runners, gym-goers and recreational cyclists, the mortality risk reduction was similar.

“This study adds to other literature showing that even short amounts of activity are beneficial,” says Lisa Cadmus-Bertram, a physical activity epidemiologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, who was not involved in the research. “So many people are daunted by feeling that they don’t have the time, money, motivation, transportation, etc. to go to a gym regularly or work out for long periods of time,” she says. “The message we can take is that it is absolutely worth doing what you can.”

Emmanuel Stamatakis, an epidemiologist at the University of Sydney, and his colleagues analyzed a subset of records from the UK Biobank, a biomedical database containing health information on half a million people in the United Kingdom. The study’s non-exercising participants — more than half of whom were women and were 62 years old on average — had worn movement-tracking devices for a week.

Over an average seven years of follow-up, for those whose days included three to four bursts of activity, the mortality rate was 4.2 deaths from any cause per 1,000 people for one year. For those with no activity bursts, it was 10.4 deaths per 1,000 people for one year.

The researchers were looking for bursts of vigorous activity that met a definition determined in a laboratory study, including reaching at least 77 percent of maximum heart rate and at least 64 percent of maximum oxygen consumption. In real life, the signs that someone has reached the needed intensity level are “an increase in heart rate and feeling out of breath” in the first 15 to 30 seconds of an activity, Stamatakis says.

Regular daily activities offer several opportunities for these vigorous bursts, he says. “The simplest one is maximizing walking pace for a minute or two during any regular walk.” Other options, he says, include carrying grocery bags to the car or taking the stairs. “The largest population health gains will be realized by finding ways to get the least physically active people to move a little more.”

Source by: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/brief-burst-activity-health-benefits

Do you get enough exercise? Most American workers don’t meet the required guidelines for exercise, and the lack of movement greatly affects their health and work performance.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reveals that the average American adult spends 6.4 hours seated per day, but office workers even go beyond these hours during their workday. Due to their prolonged sitting hours, employees end up being less productive, more exhausted, and even less satisfied with their jobs. On top of that, workers who lack exercise are most likely to experience back pain, neck pain, and other health conditions.

It’s difficult to make time for exercise, especially when you have a busy workload. However, you can balance out your schedule by following these tips:

Boost your motivation by joining a gym

If you’re used to making excuses regarding exercise, you can get the push that you need by joining a gym. Verywell Fit explains that joining a gym can be motivating due to the community of fitness enthusiasts around you, which can ignite a friendly competitive vibe in you. On top of that, your financial investment also serves as a big motivator because gyms can have quite steep costs.

While gyms may cost a pretty penny, you can become more motivated due to the amenities and classes that they offer. These gym attractions allow you to experiment with different workouts, thus increasing your chances of finding a type of exercise that you may like, such as yoga or running.

Squeeze in exercise before or after work

If you think that you don’t have time for the gym, try to make a compromise with your own schedule. One adjustment that you can do is to do workouts before or after work.

Dr. Michael Diaignault shares that morning workouts helped women lose belly fat, reduce their blood pressure, and increase their leg strength. Meanwhile, people who exercised in the evening observed greater benefits from their strength training because they had greater upper body strength, power, and endurance over time. These results are very promising, so it’s worth giving both morning and evening workouts to gauge which one better fits your schedule and health goals.

Increase the number of steps you take per day

During extremely busy periods, one compromise that you can do is to increase your daily step counts. WeightWatchers recommends walking 10,000 steps a day because this simple exercise produces the same results as doing five 30-minute workouts per week. In fact, increasing your daily step count can strengthen your heart, and boost your brain performance, while also reducing your body fat.

As an added bonus, it’s free and easy to do! You don’t need any treadmill or fancy equipment because you can simply work to and from your workplace to increase your steps. You can also take the stairs instead of riding the elevator to boost your daily step count.

Look for workout videos that suit your needs

You don’t have to limit yourself to a particular exercise or schedule. You may even be more motivated when you can work out whenever you want.

Fortunately, this is easy to do with the help of workout videos. Our article entitled Indoor Exercise Is Better Than No Exercise states that many quality fitness videos on the market are safe, effective, and accessible for you. These videos include various classes, like ballroom dancing, aerobics, or even tai chi, with short and long durations. This method makes it easier to find an exercise you like and fit it into your schedule, even if it’s just for ten minutes.

If there’s a will, there’s definitely a way, especially when it comes to exercising. Through these tips, you can squeeze in an effective workout, no matter how busy your schedule may be!

Source by: https://www.agegracefullyamerica.com/how-can-employees-working-nine-to-fives-stay-fit/