Everyone has a different relationship with exercise. Maybe you’re a fitness junkie, going to the gym five days a week or training for a marathon to push your body’s limits. But for most Americans, physical activity comes second to everything else that happens in life.
Only 26% of men, 19% of women, and 20% of teens are active enough to meet exercise and muscle-strengthening guidelines, according to Department of Health and Human Services.
If you’re one of the many people who aren’t currently meeting the minimum exercise recommendations — 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week — you could be missing out on significant gains in longevity and health, according to a new published study. in British Journal of Sports Medicine.
The researchers analyzed 2017 mortality data from the Centers for Disease Control National Center for Health Statistics. More than 36,000 Americans over the age of 40, whose physical activity levels were based on data from 2003 to 2006, were included. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. They examined how much physical activity led to a decrease or increase in life expectancy.
The researchers translated all forms of moderate to vigorous exercise into equivalent minutes of walking, to make the comparison between groups easier to interpret.
Activity levels were divided into four categories: less active individuals did the equivalent of 50 minutes of walking per day; The next group did daily walking for 80 minutes; The third group took 110 minutes, and the most active group did the equivalent of 160 minutes – nearly three hours – of walking daily.
Among the study’s most shocking findings: “The huge amount of life expectancy that inactive people can have,” says lead author Lennert Wehrmann, a professor of public health at Griffith University Medical School in Queensland, Australia.
The study concluded that if all people were as active as the top 25% of the population studied, Americans over the age of 40 would likely live an additional 5.3 years on average, raising their average life expectancy to about 84 years. If less active people increased their exercise to the most active level, they would gain up to 11 additional years of life.
Big gains for the less active
It may be time to start exercising if you find yourself in the less active group: “People who are currently inactive can benefit the most,” says Fairman. luck. He adds that one extra hour of walking could give these people an additional six hours of life.
Although this inactive group was classified in the study as getting 50 minutes of walking per day, this number likely comes from regular daily movement, meaning they do not engage in any moderate or vigorous intensity physical activity beyond basic movement. Activities of daily living, which are important for overall health.
Fairman says you’ll lose a lot if you’re inactive. If all Americans age 40 or older were as inactive as the least active 25% of the population, there would be a loss in life expectancy of 5.8 years, reducing life expectancy at birth to about 73 years, based on Data from 2017.
Any increase in movement is beneficial
Even increasing your activity level can provide significant benefits. For the least active, moving to group two increased life expectancy by 0.6 years, while moving up to group three added 3.5 years – corresponding to life expectancy at birth of 79 and 82 years.
As for the most active people, you’ll likely have maximized your longevity gains, says Fairman.
the US Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Emphasize the importance of exercise for overall well-being, not just longevity benefits. DHHS says exercise helps people sleep better, perform daily tasks more easily, and improve physical and cognitive functions, mental health, and energy levels.
DHHS emphasizes the importance of incorporating moderate and vigorous exercise on a daily basis. Fairman points out that this can be difficult if you live in car-dependent places and don’t already engage in regular exercise. But every little bit counts, he says.
Here are some ways you can incorporate more movement into your day — or what Fairman calls “incidental physical activity”:
- Take the stairs as much as possible.
- Try to choose public transportation, so you can walk to and from bus or train stations.
- Use a movable desk to alternate between standing and sitting.
- Walk to the water cooler, the printer, the bathroom, or to grab a coffee at work.
“Try to find small things you can do that don’t require a lot of effort,” says Fairman. “Little things can make a big difference over the years.”
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