Getting fit in half the time
FITNESS: Couch potatoes can live longer with just 75 minutes of exercise a week
A single sentence has the potential to change the message fitness and health experts have spent the last several years preaching.
“It could be argued that one of the greatest myths perpetuated with physical activity promotion, the exercise sciences, and exercise medicine is the belief that you need to engage in 150 minutes per week of moderate to vigorous physical activity for health benefits,” Darren Warburton and Shannon Bredin wrote in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology.
Faculty members at the University of British Columbia, Warburton and Bredin say the health benefits of exercise can be acquired in about half the weekly quota recommended by the World Health Organization and other international bodies, including our own Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines.
A study published in the Lancet reported that 15 minutes of exercise a day is all it takes to drop your risk of early mortality by 14 per cent, with every additional 15 minutes on top of that reducing the risk by four per cent — and one per cent for cancer mortality.
Just 75 minutes of brisk walking per week can result in two additional years of life. Medications that offer a similar reduction in mortality risk are considered effective.
The realization that health can be positively affected in half the time advertised is good news for anyone who struggles to meet the current guidelines.
Two-thirds of Canadians report exercising at least 150 minutes a week, but that’s on their own say so — long considered unreliable.
It’s estimated that the real number who meet the Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines is closer to 29 per cent. And only 10 per cent of Americans accumulate 150 minutes of exercise per week.
Warburton and Bredin say somewhere along the way the message went from recommendation to edict, with anything less than 150 minutes a week considered inadequate. In reality, however, a whole host of benefits can be gained by spending a lot less time working up a sweat.
To be clear, the kind of results we’re talking about are related to health only. If you have fitness or sports performance goals, 75 minutes a week of moderate to vigorous intensity exercise will have limited benefits.
That said, if a significant percentage of those 75 minutes of exercise per week are performed at the higher end of your maximum effort, fitness benefits are achievable. Fans of high intensity interval training (HIIT) realize impressive fitness gains from total weekly numbers well under those listed in current physical activity guidelines.
But the real winner isn’t the timechallenged fitness fanatic who wants to get fitter. It’s the chronic couchsitter who covets the benefits of exercise without facing the physiological and psychological barriers of hitting the gym.
“The greatest relative health benefits are observed in physically inactive individuals who become more physically active,” said Warburton and Bredin.
Also due to benefit are the elderly and those with chronic health conditions. These often-forgotten individuals are part of a diverse population that isn’t well served by a “onesize-fits-all” set of exercise guidelines.
The recommended volume of exercise should be related to individual health and fitness goals, which means someone who wants to reduce blood pressure or risk of cardiac disease will be given a weekly exercise goal far different from someone trying to strengthen their bones.
Not only will this flexibility make the introduction to exercise easier and less intimidating, it could result in a greater buy-in weeks or months down the road.
“The simple message of ‘Move more and sit less’ is likely more palatable to contemporary society and is evidence-based,” said Warburton and Bredin.
As for those who think we’re lowering the bar so we can instantly claim the status of a more active community, you’re missing the point.
Success begets success, which has been proven time and time again, and not only in the exercise realm.
Small lifestyle changes can be important stepping stones to habits like eating better, sleeping better and drinking and smoking less. Combined, all those healthy behaviours can add significantly more years to your life than those gained by exercise alone.