The Borneo Post (Sabah)

Study shows even short bursts of exercise add up to a reduced risk of death

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NEW YORK: New US research suggests that any length of exercise session, whether it is taking the stairs throughout the day or managing an hour run, all count towards achieving the recommende­d amount of physical activity each week, as long as it is performed at a medium-vigorous level of intensity.

Current guidelines from the US Department of Health and Human Services, which were issued back in 2008, recommend US adults partake in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity per week. However, the guidelines also state that activity needs to last for at least 10 minutes at a time, as shorter intervals do not provide the same health benefits.

With many Americans exposed to mixed messages about what amount of exercise really makes the difference to our health, the new research wanted to assess which type of physical activity was actually effective in reducing the risk of death and disease.

“For about 30 years, guidelines have suggested that moderate-to-vigorous activity could provide health benefits, but only if you sustained the activity for 10 minutes or more,” said study author William E. Kraus, MD, at Duke University, “That flies in the face of public health recommenda­tions, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator, and parking farther from your destinatio­n. Those don’t take 10 minutes, so why were they recommende­d?”

For the new study Kraus, along with researcher­s from the National Cancer Institute, analyzed data from 4,840 people age 40 and older who were asked to wear accelerome­ters to measure their physical activity and exertion over a seven-day period.

They found that even a small amount of physical activity helped to reduce overall risk of death and disease, although the more participan­ts did, the greater the benefits.

The team found that participan­ts who got less than 20 minutes of moderate or vigorous activity each day had the highest risk of death, but those who managed to get 60 minutes per day cut their risk of death by 57 per cent.

Increasing this to at least 100 minutes per day cut risk of death by 76 per cent.

To achieve these minutes, the study found that even the shortest burst of exercise counted, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator, as long as they were performed at a moderate to vigorous intensity level.

The study defined a moderate level of intensity as brisk walking at a pace that makes it hard to carry a conversati­on. For most people, vigorous exercise would be increasing walking to a jog.

Kraus says the findings, published in the Journal of the American Heart Associatio­n, are good news for many Americans, as accumulati­ng 30 minutes of exercise throughout the day is often more achievable than setting aside time for a 30-minute workout. — AFP-Relaxnews

 ??  ?? New research has found that getting the recommende­d amount of exercise each week could be easier than previously thought. — AFP pic
New research has found that getting the recommende­d amount of exercise each week could be easier than previously thought. — AFP pic

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