For a healthy and longer life, exercise is one of the best options. It also helps to avoid chronic diseases like joint pains, diabetes, aches and cancer. It is not possible for everybody to stick to a strict regimen of daily exercise. Health experts say that about 150 minutes of moderate activity, or 75 minutes of vigorous, breath-sapping exercise, each week is a necessity. Since daily exercise is not possible for everyone, some researchers decided to study whether people who tend to cram their weekly exercise into one or two days on the weekend, get the same benefits as compared to those who exercise daily. In the new research published in JAMA Internal Medicine, they found that how often a person exercises might not make a difference in determining how long a person lives.
Another study led by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, concluded that leisure-time physical activity is associated with longer life expectancy. This holds true even at
relatively low levels of activity and regardless of body weight. The study was published in November 2012 which stated that people who get engaged in leisure-time physical activity had life expectancy gains of as much as 4.5 years.
Moderate exercise vs vigorous exercise: Moderate aerobic exercise includes activities such as brisk walking, swimming and mowing the lawn. Vigorous aerobic exercise includes activities such as running and aerobic dancing. Strength training can include use of weight machines, your own body weight, resistance tubing, resistance paddles in the water, or activities such as rock climbing. In general, we all should aim for at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day. If you want to lose weight or meet specific fitness goals, you need to exercise more. We should reduce sitting time which is most important. The more hours we sit each day, the higher is risk of metabolic problems. It is advisable to take a walk or climb staircase, or spot jog for 2-3 minutes after every half an hour.
Brief activities: Many experts say that even brief stretches of activity offer benefits; for example, if you can’t go for 30-minute walk at stretch, try three 10-minute walks instead. What is important is making regular physical activity as a part of your lifestyle. In other words, doing any physical activity is better than doing none. The healthiest tip is to do a moderate amount of physical activity to stay healthy. If you not practiced doing moderate exercise before, it is never too late to start. Start doing moderate exercise and gradually you may increase.
So if you currently do no physical activity, it’s never too late to start. Start by doing some, and gradually build up to
the recommended amount. Remember this, if adults follow physical activity guidelines, medical facts suggest that it could result in reduced risk of all cause mortality by 30 per cent, cardiovascular disease by 35 per cent, breast cancer by 20 per cent, colon cancer by 30 per cent, and type 2- diabetes by 42 per cent and depression by 30 per cent. Follow this rule strictly: avoid prolonged periods of sitting and carry on muscle strengthening activities at least two days a week.
Avoid high intensity exercise: Experts also warn that high-intensity exercise is not appropriate for everyone and a medical clearance is required before starting. You need to have a better than average level of fitness to do this type of training safely at the intensity required.
A health survey which had more than 63,000 respondents (people), conducted in England and Scotland found these conclusions and observations: 1. people who said they exercised only one or two days a week lowered their risk of dying early from any cause by 30% to 34%, compared to people who were inactive. But what was more remarkable was, that people who exercised most days of the week lowered their risk by 35%: not very different from those who exercised less! 2. The findings support the idea that moderate physical activity—even if it’s less than what the guidelines prescribe, helps avoid premature death. Researchers saw benefits for people who squ
eezed the entire recommended 150 minutes per week into one or two days, as well as for people who didn’t quite meet that threshold and exercised less. 3. Exercise is effective at reducing the risk of heart-related death. The people who exercised regularly and those who exercised a couple days a week both cut their risk by about 40%. Again, the frequency of exercise didn’t seem to matter. 4. The same is true for risk of death from cancer. Those who exercised, whether it was every day or only a few days, lowered their risk of dying from cancer by 18% to 21%, compared to those who didn’t exercise.
So friends its better late than never. This proverb is often expressed with a degree of sarcasm, apparently saying something positive but in fact merely remarking on someone’s lateness. If you haven’t begun your exercising regimen yet, make a beginning now.
