Even short burst of exercise during the day are good for you

There are so many exercise and fitness options out there that it becomes difficult to know which one is best for you.

There have been plenty of recommendations from health authorities and studies. But it is confusing to know which ones are most beneficial for your fitness and health.

So should you take 10,000 steps a day or do a 20 minute high intensity workout? Is a 60 minute run better for you or will a 10 minute workout that promises to blast calories work well?

For a long time Americans have been told that moderate-to-vigorous activity can provide health benefits but only if the activity is sustained for 10 minutes or more.

Those who participated in 60 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous activity cut their risk of death by 57 percent.

To investigate whether moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity needs to be accumulated in bouts to provide benefits, researchers from the Duke University School of Medicine and the National Cancer Institute undertook a study in which they analysed data of 4840 people.

Study data was derived from NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) 2003–2006 cycles which included people aged 40 years and older.

NHANES collects data on various health and behaviour aspects such as physical activity and self‐reported diagnosis of prevalent health conditions like diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, stroke, and cancer.

The participants wore accelerometers to measure their physical activity and exertion.

Using the National Death Index for mortality records, the investigators found that 4140 participants were still living in 2011.

The study found that people who got less than 20 minutes of moderate vigorous activity each day had the highest risk of death.

Those who participated in 60 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous activity cut their risk of death by 57 percent. Those who got 100 minutes per day reduced their risk of death by 76 percent.

The study suggests that even brief bouts of exercise count towards accumulated exercise per day as long as it reaches a moderate to vigorous level.

Moderate exercise is defined as brisk walking pace that makes it hard to carry a conversation.

It turns out that any physical activity even if it’s done in short bouts during the day will help reduce the risk of disease and death.

However, the more you do the benefits are greater.

Source: Journal of the American Heart Association