Half of Aussies don’t get enough physical activity for their health benefits. That means the other half does. What this also means is there are a bunch of people out there working away, finding precious time to be active in an already busy life. On the other hand, there are also thousands of people not exercising for the very same reason – lack of time!
The Benefits!
Experts agree that exercise is the magic pill we’ve all been looking for. Not only does it improve our chances of avoiding Heart Disease, Type 2 Diabetes, Obesity, and many Cancers it also helps us to look on the positive side of life.
Why 30 minutes most days?
So how much is enough? For years health professionals have spruiked that we need to get 30 minutes of moderate exercise most days. The benefits pretty much begin the minute you start moving. However the more you do the better the results.
How does it work?
Benefits occur when we get off the couch and start moving around and the heart and lungs start working harder. Just by being active we get benefits; improved energy use, mobility, assisted weight control, and mood enhancement.
Ramp it up a notch and that’s when the real benefits start to take place. Move from just being active to doing an activity of a moderate intensity that is relatively regular and we start to see changes at a cellular level. Extra blood vessels are built, cells become more efficient at using energy, and muscles become better prepared for activity.
The body begins to adapt and prepares itself for more exercise and is able to do it more efficiently. When you do a vigorous activity the benefits will be even greater.
What is considered as a vigorous exercise: It is a physical activity done with a greater effort (huffing and puffing), resulting in a substantially higher heart rate and rapid breathing.
And that’s where we can save time. If you can tolerate vigorous exercise you don’t need as much of it to achieve health benefits. Obviously, if you’re training for a specific event or physical challenge, that’s a different story. But if it’s optimal health you’re after, for every 2 minutes of moderate exercise you enjoy, you can get the same benefits in 1 minute of vigorous exercise.
So, instead of aiming for 30 minutes of moderate exercise, you can aim for 15 minutes of vigorous activity. Remember though, ideally spread it over the week; e.g. 3 days of your choice 15 minutes vigorous exercises. (45min of activity per week)
If you suffer from any medical condition such as high blood pressure, heart disease, cardiovascular disease, etc. consult your doctor first.
What does it mean?
Our biggest problem isn’t a lack of vigorous exercise but a lack of movement altogether. Once you do get moving it doesn’t mean go for broke straight away. As the intensity of exercise/activity increases so too does the risk of injury. This means you need to step it up gradually.
An inactive person might aim for 50-70,000 steps per week. As their fitness increases, they look for a few sessions of moderate exercise each week working up to daily exercises. As the level of fitness improves, they swap some of the moderate activities for vigorous ones. Each time they increase intensity there will be a double benefit in better health and reduced workout times. In other words, as their fitness allows them to increase intensity the duration of their exercise sessions can come down (within reason).
So the bottom line is; don’t settle for your current level. Aim to be active and to get fit. As your fitness increases, and your intensity of exercise goes up, so will your general health improve.
At the end of the day:
Be active in as many ways possible. Raise the tempo when able
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