https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/22/16343458/exercise-2-hours-per-week-live-longer
With the explosion of boutique gyms
and spin classes and ultramarathons, it can feel like exercise should
be both expensive and extreme. But researchers are finding that it
really doesn’t seem to matter what kind of physical activity you do to
reap great health rewards.
In one of largest global studies
ever published on the heart health benefits of physical activity,
researchers found that 150 minutes spent exercising per week could cut a
person’s risk of cardiovascular disease and death. And, most
importantly, the Lancet paper demonstrated that all kinds of physical activity were equally good for the heart.
“I would dispel the notion of having to put out money to
be active,” said Dr. Scott Lear, the study lead author and a professor
at Simon Fraser University’s Faculty of Health Sciences in Canada, in an
email. “Our findings indicate that nonrecreational activity — work,
housework, active transportation — is just as beneficial in reducing the
risk for premature death and heart disease.”
So, yes, even vacuuming your house or walking on your
lunch hour for a solid 30 minutes can help avert an early death and
chronic disease.
The researchers tracked the exercise levels — as
well as the rate of cardiovascular disease (including heart attacks,
stroke, and heart failure) and all-cause mortality — of more than
130,000 adults living in 17 high-, low-, and middle-income countries,
from Canada to China.
Following the study participants for an average of seven
years, they found the people who reported at least 150 minutes of
physical activity per week were much healthier than their sedentary
counterparts: They were less likely to have heart attacks, strokes and
cardiovascular disease, and less likely to die from any cause. Getting
only two and a half hours of weekly exercise was associated with a 28
percent reduction in premature death, and a 20 percent reduction in
heart disease.
All
forms of exercise appeared to reduce a person’s risk of death and
disease, whether people were sweating away in a gym class, cleaning
their house, or simply walking to work.
“This is a large study, covering a lot of different
countries of different income levels and means of physical activity,”
said Brian Elbel, director of NYU’s Langone Comprehensive Program on
Obesity, “and it confirms that physical activity is great and focusing
on the means of physical activity isn’t important.”
We spend more time glued to our seats, while rates of chronic disease are going up
But while the evidence keeps piling up to show us that
physical activity is really important for not dying early, we’re also
more sedentary than ever before. Most of us barely manage to meet the
minimum exercise requirements — or to carry on the most basic health
habits. Only about 38 percent of Americans surveyed in this 2016 Mayo Clinic Proceedings study
had a healthy diet, just 10 percent had a normal body fat level — and
fewer than half (47 percent) were sufficiently active.
We’re driving more, spending more time in front of screens, and walking less. According to one study of health impact of sedentary behavior,
in 1970, only 20 percent of Americans had jobs that required little
physical activity (and lots of sitting around). By 2000, that number
climbed to 40 percent. All told, Americans now spend up to nine hours each day being sedentary.
Meanwhile, lifestyle-related chronic diseases have shot
up dramatically. Having a high body weight contributed to 4 million
deaths globally — or 7 percent of the deaths from any cause — in 2015,
according to a recent New England Journal of Medicine paper.
Most of those deaths were caused by cardiovascular disease, with
diabetes following closely behind, along with kidney disease and
cancers.
The easiest ways to exercise more without extra time
Americans often complain that they don’t have enough time to work out. A 2015 survey
asked a group of 1,000 of them how they'd spend an extra four hours
each week if they suddenly had the time. The number one answer?
Exercise. The desire for more time to work out trumped the wish for more
time spent with family, sleeping, or even doing hobbies.
But this Lancet paper is a reminder that we
often overthink exercise — and we may not actually need to set aside
extra time to work out. Exercise doesn't require a gym membership or
fancy shoes. Exercise is something you can do throughout the day, every
day. It also doesn’t need to be grueling, and it doesn’t have to cost
anything, to see health benefits.
So how can you incorporate more physical activity in your
waking hours? Simply walking more — while commuting, running errands,
or on the phone — counts for a lot, health-wise. Dr. Mike Evans,
an associate professor of family medicine and public health at the
University of Toronto, has a great video on how to fill your day with
more activity. He suggests:
- Scheduling walking meetings
- Getting off a stop early on your daily commute to work
- Walking on your lunch hour instead of going to another place to sit
- Walking to the grocery store instead of driving
- If you do drive, park far away
- Taking the stairs to your office instead of the elevator
The researchers in the Lancet study also found
there was a linear relationship between the amount of exercise and
disease risk, meaning the more hours a person spent doing physical
activity (again, of any kind), the lower their risk of disease and
death. (The benefits seemed to taper off at 1.8 hours of brisk walking
per day.) And the people who reported getting the most physical activity
were the ones who had exercise built into their daily lives, Lear
noted, through simple things like active transport to work, their jobs,
or doing housework.
“I would also stress that physical activity is a good
stress release,” Lear said. “I commute by bicycle to work and that ride
home is so good for burning off the stress of the work day and I get
home much fresher than if I sat in a car fighting traffic.”
Our physical environment encourages sedentary lifestyles — and that needs to change
As we learn more about the importance of exercise for
health, we also have to make our communities more amenable to active
lifestyles.
Imagine if more cities made their streets
pedestrian-friendly and invested in spaces that everyone could access,
such as community yoga studios, public parks, or even programs like Sunday San Francisco Streets or the Ciclovía in Bogota, Colombia, which involve closing down streets for walking and biking on the weekend.
Researchers
have also found putting traffic-free cycling and walking routes in
place increases physical activity levels for the people who live near
them.
These public places offer the most cost-effective forms of exercise, and they’re available to everybody. In this 2011 economic analysis, the researchers found Sunday San Francisco Streets
cost only $1.35 per week. Meanwhile, they estimated, using pedestrian
trails in Nebraska cost 81 cents, and the weekly cost of private fitness
centers in cities like San Francisco runs about $20. Compare that with
using a boutique spinning or Pilates studio two or three times per week,
for which you can shell out more than $90.
“In high income countries in particular, and in
occupations that result in a lot of sitting, we have engineered physical
activity out of our daily work or domestic lives,” Lear said. We’ve
also made working out too complicated. Science suggests that should
change.
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