Scientists Study How Little Exercise You Need 437
Hugh Pickens writes "Millions of Americans don't engage in much exercise, if they complete any at all and asked why, a majority of respondents, in survey after survey, say, 'I don't have time.' Now Gretchen Reynolds reports that instead of wondering just how much exercise people really need in order to gain health and fitness, a group of scientists in Canada are turning that issue on its head and asking, how little exercise do we need to maintain fitness and the answer appears to be, a lot less than most of us think — provided we're willing to work a bit. Most people have heard of intervals, or repeated, short, sharp bursts of strenuous activity, interspersed with rest periods. Almost all competitive athletes strategically employ a session or two of interval training every week to improve their speed and endurance. Researchers have developed a version of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) that involves one minute of strenuous effort, at about 90 percent of a person's maximum heart rate (which most of us can estimate, very roughly, by subtracting our age from 220), followed by one minute of easy recovery. The effort and recovery are repeated 10 times, for a total of 20 minutes and the interval training is performed twice a week. Despite the small time commitment of this modified HIIT program, after several weeks of practicing it, both the unfit volunteers and the cardiac patients showed significant improvements in their health and fitness. 'A growing body of evidence demonstrates that high-intensity interval training can serve as an effective alternate to traditional endurance-based training, inducing similar or even superior physiological adaptations in healthy individuals and diseased populations, at least when compared on a matched-work basis.'"
Interval Training (Score:5, Interesting)
The intervals meaning that interruption to your routine is minimal since you're not doing it all at once when everybody else is using the gym, like at lunchtimes or after work.
Re:Interval Training (Score:5, Funny)
>> even on a diet of beer and Mexican food
I am so happy that I don't share an office with you.
Re:Interval Training (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3)
Re:Interval Training (Score:5, Funny)
I guess I am the sociopath here. I save it for the elevator where there is no escape.
Mwuhahahahahahahhahahha
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
Methane or hydrogen actually. You can verify by checking the color of the flame if you burn it.
Re:Interval Training (Score:5, Insightful)
That's not really the way interval training works, though the fact that you exercise at all puts you head and shoulders above most people in this country. Real interval training requires you to do a bunch of short intervals of exercise with only slightly longer periods of rest in between. For example, sprint for one minute, slow jog for two, repeat that cycle six times. Most exercise machines (treadmills, bikes, ellipticals, etc.) have such an option as one of the built-in programs.
But regardless of whether or not what you're suggesting is "real" interval training, the fact remains that it is exercise, and for most people, even modest exercise is enough to keep them from getting fat and weak. Just remember to wear deodorant, because under the proposed regimen, you're not going to be showering after each interval.
Re:Interval Training (Score:5, Insightful)
<nelson>HA HA!</nelson>
I eat what I want and don't get much exercise at all. I'm thin, sit all day, drink too much, and you know what? You have to die from something. Live while you're alive. Take it from an old man who'll be sixty in a couple of months.
(now watch me die tomorrow, that would show me, wouldn't it?)
Re:Interval Training (Score:5, Insightful)
I agree with 'Live while you are alive' but sitting on the couch, drinking and eating crap I find less of the living then spending couple of hours in the gym, relaxing brain while walking or camping and eating stuff that makes me feel good AFTERWARDS (like fruits and oatmeal).
Re:Interval Training (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3)
My grandmother's doctor told her if she didn't get her cholesterol down she'd die. Well, the doctor died. The next doctor said the same thing, then he died. Three more doctors later she did die -- fell in the nursing home and broke her hip at age 99.
You have to die from something. Grandma told me when she was 95 "I don't know why people want to live to be a hundred, it ain't no fun bein' old!"
But yes, I'm lucky. Genes count more than anything when it comes to living a long time. I've known a lot of people f
Re:Interval Training (Score:5, Informative)
I would actually say that diet is infinitely more important than exercise. There's a reason it's said that six packs are made in the kitchen.
Someone who eats healthy and does not work out is often in better shape than someone who eats junk and "works out" for half hour a day. Most of those people just use their momentum to do some crazy exercises with piss poor forms, and eat unhealthy crap afterwards because they've worked out (think middle aged man with flabby biceps and a beer gut trying to bench press, when he probably has 30% body fat).
Re: (Score:3)
Oh wow, I just now realized that that was basically what my elementary school gym teacher had us do.
We were training to run the mile towards the end of 8th grade. He'd have us do "intervals" of running 1 minute and walking 2 minutes. He said no matter how slow or weak you thought you were, it's good for you if you just keep moving. Even the slowest kid in the class eventually got up to a time of 11:30 where previously it would have taken him nearly the whole 45 minute period to get it done.
Re:Interval Training (Score:5, Insightful)
Getting your heartrate up is the important bit - use those lungs and get your liver in fighting trim. The more vital you are the better off you are, short and long term.
I'd hate to see research coming out recommending people do as little as possible. It would only confirm to the at-risk group they don't need to work on it. Meanwhile, people I went to high school with are popping their clogs. Geez.
Re:Interval Training (Score:5, Funny)
use those lungs and get your liver in fighting trim
My Doctor said this too; that I should do something once a day that makes me out of breath, so I've taken up smoking.
(with thanks to Jo Brand)
Re:Interval Training (Score:4, Informative)
This shows a complete lack of understanding of what this training is about. In order to bang out 100 leg presses you have to be working at an extremely low intensity, and banging weights is the way to tear your muscles. High Intensity means doing one set, of very few reps, with moderately heavy weights, moving slowly and smoothly, and maintaining perfect form throughout every motion. This way there is virtually no risk of injury. And then resting for several days to allow the muscles that have been worked hard to recover and rebuild. In fact, even this a overworking; it takes only seconds at maximum capability to produce the desired effect from an exercise.
I work out once a week, for 20 minutes at a time, and have wonderful improvement in my blood pressure and resting pulse rate in the last six months. My endurance in other activities is also improving slowly but surely. And that with no injury whatsoever, though I am sore the next day.
Contrary to descriptions elsewhere on the page, I do no warm-ups or warm-downs, and no stretching before or after exercise. Stretching moves muscles to their weakest positions, which weakens them, and stresses their attachments to bones. Together, this means that stretching both lowers the effectiveness of exercise and raises the likelihood of injury. Don't do it.
Re: (Score:3)
At the gym, yes, stretching is not necessary. Before playing sports, you want an active warm-up and a light stretch after.
Re: (Score:3)
Stretching doesn't help those who exercise only occasionally. There have been several studies for this. Athletes need to stretch, as do those who exercise on a frequent basis (I think it was 4+ times per week). But for those who exercise less frequently, stretching increases the chance of injury.
Re:Interval Training (Score:5, Informative)
[citation needed]
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/stretching-before-exercise-is-useless-738097.html [independent.co.uk]
“The basic science and clinical evidence today suggests that stretching before exercise is more likely to cause injury than to prevent it.”
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-241-287--7001-0,00.html [runnersworld.com]
Several authors have suggested that stretching has a beneficial effect on injury prevention. In contrast, clinical evidence suggesting that stretching before exercise does not prevent injuries has also been reported.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15233597 [nih.gov]
“stretching before exercise is more likely to cause injury than to prevent it.”
http://www.amazon.com/Body-Science-Research-Program-Results/dp/0071597174/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329369249&sr=8-1 [amazon.com] p. 218-9, emphasis in original
Re:Interval Training (Score:5, Insightful)
The stretching FAQ is a very good resource: http://www.cmcrossroads.com/bradapp/docs/rec/stretching/ [cmcrossroads.com]
Stretching while your muscles are cold is a very bad idea. One of the things that confuses people is how crazily flexible your body is when you are young. You can usually do just about any stupid ass thing and you will not get seriously injured. But as you get older, you lose it. Warm up is essential. Stretching before exercise (before you are warm) is an invitation to injury.
But extrapolating from that to assume that stretching is a bad idea is wrong. Flexibility is extremely useful. If you don't move your body through it's full range of motion, you will gradually lose the ability to do so. Then you are not only at risk of injury during exercise, but also in every day life. Because the loss of flexibility is so gradual, many people don't realize it. But before you know it, it's gone and then you lose your ability to move.
Stretching isn't something you chuck in at the beginning of a workout. It is part of a workout (or even the workout itself). You have to treat it seriously and understand how to do it properly. Just like anything else.
Re:Interval Training (Score:5, Informative)
You know, I used to feel the same way (i.e. macros are more important, and as long as you got your nutrients, the source doesn't really matter).
But a while ago, I changed my lifestyle -- vegetarian, gave up alcohol, coffee, and most processed foods, and just started eating healthier foods in general.
I've seen a drastic difference in not just my fitness levels, but also my stamina. I'm having the flu right now, and yet, my buddies and I just had an intense workout out for over an hour at the gym, and I didn't even feel tired.
Things like interval workouts are great, but they only work to an extent. There's something to be said about putting your body in the "zone" (as far as heart rates and muscle groups are concerned) because when you're done thoroughly working out with an entire muscle group, and you'll see much better progress over time. This, of course, is my personal experience and quite anecdotal. YMMV.
On behalf of everyone else who was at your gym: (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm having the flu right now, and yet, my buddies and I just had an intense workout out for over an hour at the gym, and I didn't even feel tired.
I'm glad you feel so healthy, but please stay away from the gym while you're coughing, sneezing, or barfing.
Re:On behalf of everyone else who was at your gym: (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Interval Training (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Possibly this study or a similar one.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/stretching-before-exercise-is-useless-738097.html [independent.co.uk]
Re: (Score:3)
Man, I stretch every morning. I stretch my achillies and hamstrings, and lower back. I had some issues with plantar fasciitis, and the stretching has really helped there. I don't know that it would help to prevent injury, I do it to maintain flexibility. So I say it's not a con. =)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Interval Training (Score:5, Informative)
Yes, and doing yoga can f*** you up. [nytimes.com] So a little warming up and then straight into exercise or weights is best.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Interval Training (Score:5, Insightful)
Hard interval training is going to do a hell of a lot more for your heart rate than walking, unless, perhaps, you're talking about Olympic class speed walking.
Walking is better than nothing, but it doesn't raise your heart rate nearly as much as running or intensive intervals.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
I passed a jogger the other day while walking (I walk anywhere I can, in all weather, and was carrying 50 lbs of groceries at the time.)
In any sort of traffic condition I tend to beat cars rather badly on distance over time (yes, I live in the city.) If you walk with the purpose of covering distance quickly under load, you can get pretty substantial exercise. If you walk daily and do so at speed this is all the exercise you really need to be healthy (assuming a reasonable diet.)
I do try to ensure that I c
Re:Tai Chi Chuan, ftw (Score:5, Insightful)
You wanna look like a douche, play around with some machines or dumbells (guess why they call them that). You wanna be healthy, feel great and get all the poon you can handle? Tai Chi.
I guess I rather look like a douche than act and sound like one.
oh vey (Score:3)
Researchers have developed a version of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) that involves one minute of strenuous effort, at about 90 percent of a person's maximum heart rate (which most of us can estimate, very roughly, by subtracting our age from 220), followed by one minute of easy recovery. The effort and recovery are repeated 10 times, for a total of 20 minutes and the interval training is performed twice a week.
That's way more than I was willing to commit to memory, let alone perform
Re: (Score:2)
Considering that the heart rate is only useful if you bother to measure it,
[ 1 minute high intensity -> 1 minute low intensity ] x 10, twice a week
Re: (Score:2)
me too... brain.lang.StackOverflowError()
Re: (Score:2)
But in the interest of overall health, I am going to kill that mental thread and try what the article suggests. :-)
Otherwise my entire primary thread pool will be deleted.
Re:oh vey (Score:4, Insightful)
er what? (Score:5, Insightful)
"Now Gretchen Reynolds reports that instead of wondering just how much exercise people really need in order to gain health and fitness, a group of scientists in Canada are turning that issue on its head and asking, how little exercise do we need to maintain fitness"
How is that 'turning the issue on its head'? It seems to me more like a very minor rephrasing of the question which ultimately makes no difference at all.
Re:er what? (Score:4, Funny)
"You are old, Father William," the young man said,
"And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head—
Do you think, at your age, it is right?"
"In my youth," Father William replied to his son,
"I feared it might injure the brain;
But now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,
Why, I do it again and again."
Re: (Score:2)
Not really. You dropped the "how", which is important here. "How much" and "how little" are synonyms for "what amount" with different connotations. Most languages have that kind of subtlety as well.
Why don't I exercise? (Score:2, Interesting)
Because I think it's boring. It's not that I don't have the time, but I would just rather be doing other things. I think a lot of people who say, "I don't have the time" are like that, too.
Other things like commenting on Slashdot, yes.
Re:Why don't I exercise? (Score:5, Funny)
> Because I think it's boring.
You'll find diabetes and heart disease boring as well. But don't worry: Alzheimer's will help you forget the boredom.
Re: (Score:3)
Of course it's boring when you start out. It's like everything else. When you start programming, you don't start writing game engines -- you start with the basics.
When you start working out, you start with the basics, such as cardio and working your basic muscle groups. But over time, you will get in good enough shape that you can start doing interesting things.
In fact, even if you just played a fast-moving sport regularly, you'll see a great improvement (think soccer or tennis, not baseball or golf).
One of
Re:Why don't I exercise? (Score:4, Interesting)
Something that really helps me do treadmill is watching a movie. I once had a shelf for a laptop above the treadmill, but these days most treadmills have screens and iPod connections. I've found the best movies for exercising aren't great movies, they're 2 1/2 star action flicks. My wife has found the same thing, but for her it's trashy TV, mainly reality shows.
Even then, would I rather be doing other things? Probably. But it's just a cost of having a sedentary job. We weren't meant to live like this.
Re: (Score:3)
Oh no! Ethanol-fueled is a goat boater!
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
As natural as possible = grown in dirt, eaten by a civet, shat out, the remains roasted, ground, steeped in hot water, and filtered, retaining the filtrate and discarding the filtrate.
Slow burn fitness... (Score:2, Interesting)
...30 minutes a week, every week for the past 3 years, and still getting stronger every week. Slow strength training is by far the most effective exercise I've encountered so far, and the benefits for just 30 minutes a week are *crazy*.
http://slowburnfitness.com/ [slowburnfitness.com]
No, I don't get kickbacks, but I'm forever grateful to Fred Hahn for figuring this crap out.
Re:Slow burn fitness... (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (Score:3)
Well, his book can be whittled down to less than a page and a half brochure, but he spends a lot of time going over the rationale behind why slow strength training works.
For me, I use free weights, and it's 3-5 slow reps (10 seconds up, 10 seconds down) of:
1) pushups
2) squats
3) side lying leg lifts
4) standing leg lifts
5) side arm raises
6) overhead arm raises
7) single arm back pull-ups
8) bicep curls
9) shoulder shrugs
10) abdominal crunches
11) heel raises
If I can do more than 5, I increase the difficulty/weigh
Re: (Score:3)
I read a health blog that recently linked to a program called Body by Science. I think you could probably get your local library to buy the book. They recommend 12 minutes a week of exercise similar to what the GP recommended.
The exercise works by doing 2-4 minutes of several exercises very slowly. The muscles get so oxygen deprived that you start breathing like you are running a 5k at a full sprint. At the end of the 12 minutes, you then have to wait another 15-20 minutes before your body stops the aerobic
Sex (Score:5, Funny)
It sounds like this regimen could be incorporated into sex, or masturbation if you're creative.
preemptive "slashdot readers don't have sex, lol"
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Put weights on your arm. You'll go blind AND have large muscles.
Re:Sex (Score:4, Funny)
Just don't forget to switch arms periodically.
Re: (Score:3)
We may be able to pull off, literally, a 1 minute burst of activity near our max heart rate. The problem is being able to do 10 of those with only 1 minute of rest in between.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
you mean "sexercising"? This word almost made it to neologism of the year here in The Netherlands :)
Whoever coined that term must have had a second-order neologasm.
While that 40 minutes a week might help the heart (Score:4, Insightful)
I've made a point of exercising a lot lately... and I've found that my endurance has gone up considerably since I started, but I'm just as fat as I ever was. At least I'm not gaining any more weight... still undesirably obese though.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Fat, or heavy?
I lost 10 lbs of fat from a year of biking to work, but my total weight didn't change at all because I gained 10 lbs of muscle. That wasn't a bad trade.
Re: (Score:2)
Keep it up, Bro. May I suggest you grab a protein shake as soon after exercising as possible - but use this as a meal replacement. And cut out high carb snacks between meals. It can be fun to be slightly hungry, especially when your fitness is improving! Regardless, I know some big guys who race bikes and whup the skinny guys.
Re:While that 40 minutes a week might help the hea (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Obviously you've probably heard a million different bits of dieting advice, so one more will probably go unheeded, but have you tried cutting out high calorie beverages? After gaining 30 lbs in a year by eating at restaurants too often while traveling, I've dropped 20 lbs by reducing my calorie intake without reducing the amount I eat or increasing my exercise simply by only drinking zero calorie drinks (with occasional beers as exceptions). By my estimation, that change has cut about 500 calories a day f
Re: (Score:2)
Just pay attention to what you're putting in yourself for awhile and avoid the obvious highly dense problematic foods. Also apply the ancient rules regarding sweets and snacking between meals.
Most people get fat and stay fat because of bad habits.
Re: (Score:3)
You're confusing 'fit' with 'slim'. Many people do. It's completely possible to have a healthy cardiac system (the most important part), but be quite obese. How thin you are is mainly a function of diet; how healthy you are is mainly a function of exercise. They have significant correlation, but they are distinct data points with separate causes.
The more important of the two for health is your cardiac fitness. The more desirable of the two in social situations is your BMI. Choose wisely.
Re: (Score:2)
The thing about exercise and diet as a way to lose weight is this:
The purpose of the exercise portion is to build muscle mass because muscle requires more calories than not-muscle does to maintain - so, by having more muscle you burn more calories all the time, at rest, when active, whatever.
The diet portion means to figure out what you actually need to take in and to do so with proper nutrition.
If you're right now obese and starting an exercise routine, the best thing would be lots and lots of weight lifti
Re: (Score:2)
Also, good on ya for starting to exercise!
Re: (Score:3)
Look into Mark's Daily Apple. He was a marathoner. Then, the wear and tear on his body finally got to him.
He started researching, and the info on his blog will tell you what makes you fat.
Here's a brief run down:
Grains (all, but most commonly consumed are oats, wheat (cereal, bread and pasta) and corn (including corn syrup and tortilla chips)
Potatoes (Potatoes are a starchy white carbohydrate)
Sugar
As much as possible, eat Natural meat, and a large variety of vegetables with a few fruits.
Re: (Score:2)
The only way to lose weight is to eat less than your body can burn.
And excretes.
Re:While that 40 minutes a week might help the hea (Score:4, Insightful)
If you consume fewer calories than you burn you will lose weight. No amount of adapting can get around that.
If only it were that easy. Metabolism varies depending on what you do, and what you eat. It can vary as much as 700 calories for people with similar body composition. That is, I may look exactly the same as you, and exercise the same amount, but I can eat 700 calories more than you each day without gaining weight. Furthermore it varies within the same person.
And that is ignoring body composition and nutrition. If you have a high sugar diet, you can still lose weight if you eat few calories, but you will not be very health. You want to lose weight in a way that makes you more healthy, not less healthy.
These are problems that can be overcome, of course, but claiming it is a simple inequality is ignoring a number of complications, tautological, and not particularly helpful.
Re: (Score:3)
The simple claim is that if you eat less than you burn, you lose weight. It IS that simple.
It sounds simple, but unless you have your body hooked up to a calorimetry laboratory, it's hard to know how many calories you've burned in a day.
People want simple cures.
That's basically what you're prescribing.
Re: (Score:3)
Their lifestyle is not the same as yours. We lead a much more sedentary lifestyle, and we consume a lot more in terms of raw quantity (and with increasing frequency). The idea behind wheat belly can be extended to carbs in general -- wheat, rice, corn etc. And I've found that cutting carbs and calories is the biggest factor in getting in shape, and lowering your bf%. You can skip everything else, but if you're maintaining a caloric deficit consistently, you'll lose weight.
I was at 19% body fat, and once I s
Canadian Air Force (Score:2)
Isn't this basically the same idea as the Canadian Air Force exercise program of the 50s?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5BX [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:3)
These days the tabata protocol [tabataprotocol.com] (basically 4 minutes of hiit) 4 times a week is my main form of exercise (no warm up), I also "play" with rings [ringtraining.com] - this doesn't take much time as it is very taxing on the upper body. But for a change, nothing wrong with the 5BX calistenics.
Re: (Score:3)
In reality, most of us could do HIIT, some pushups, pullups, and pistols [beastskills.com] (which admittedly are demanding) and be fine.
The number ONE issue with weight control will nearly always be what you put in your mouth. If you can wedge mor
Official Training Guide (Score:5, Funny)
Refrigerator door pull:
1. Stand with your feet evenly in front of the icebox. Pull door open, check whats inside. Close the door.
2. Pull open, retrieve one of the 6pack. Close door.
3. Pull open, get salsa. Close door.
4. Pull open, get lime. Close door.
5. When it's time for next bottle/can, repeat #2.
Sixteen ounce wrist curls:
1. Pop open that beer/soda/caffeinated drink. 6 reps, one for each gulp, right wrist first.
2. Do 6 reps for left wrist as well.
Use your imagination, and your regular work area could be a workout area as well. Practice saying, "Yeah, I work out" with the intensity showing in your eyes.
H.I.I.T. or S.H.I.T.? (Score:2)
high-intensity interval training (HIIT)
Why does this remind me of the old joke about Specialized High Intensity Training [jimpoz.com]?
So that 4min bicycle thing isnt a scam after all? (Score:2)
So I guess that super expensive bicycle thing I see advertized in magazines might actually not be a placebo/scam?
Re: (Score:3)
You don't need any gadgets: just a stretch of road and a supply of self-discipline.
Too bad they didn't measure BDNF (Score:5, Informative)
The best way, currently known, to slow age-related cognitive decline is exercise because it produces Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor.
But did TFA even mention BDNF?
nnnnnnaaaaaaaaOOOOOOOOOOHHHHhhhhhh
Maybe the author should exercise more.
Wood stove (Score:2)
I heat with a wood stove. This sounds just like my normal day of carrying firewood. (Maple ain't light.)
20 minutes twice a week? (Score:2)
Oddly enough, that is how I start after I've been away for a while (often due to unusual work pressures or injury - @@#^%%$ P90X) - I swim, and alternate 50s of freestyle (usu to 80-90%) and breaststroke (about 70-75%) on the minute, taking breaks every 5 minutes until I drop below 60%, then another set.
Still, even when I'm in my best shape, I'm rarely doing more than 35-40 minutes total workout (prob ~30 minutes actual swimming, ~ 1 mile) 3X a week.
Yes but (Score:4, Interesting)
But for most people I am not sure if it is any more fun or easier to commit to.
As a pretty serious long distance runner (running Boston Marathon this spring), I don't doubt that intervals can make me faster and I will do some before the race, but that is easily the worst part of my training. It is just very unpleasant to run at >90% of max capacity. I even prefer 15 mile long runs over intervals.
Whatever, it misses the key problem. (Score:2)
WTF is worng with the human body? It should let me do what I do, not what my great great great great grand fathers did. For all the virtues that are claimed about exercice the fact remains it is a bother...
Please doctors, just fix the whole excercise problem. But fix the sleeping problem first, that easly consumes more lifetimes than excercise all types of cancer combined.
Wow! (Score:3)
The 90s called and wanted their exercise article back.
Ken Cooper sort of answered this decades ago (Score:5, Interesting)
Dr Ken Cooper - the guy who invented aerobics and published back in the 1970s - was answering this question more or less. He was a US Air Force doctor and had access to thousands of subjects for testing. He wanted to answer the question: "How much exercise do I *need* to do, when a doctor tells me to get `more' exercise?"
Basically, after a 13 week conditioning program of gradually increasing exersion, his program settles down into walking 4 miles in 55 minutes, three times a week. This is not that burdensome. And there are many alternatives to walking: swimming, running/jogging, cycling, playing various vigorous sports like squash, etc. He worked out age and activity based tables for mixing and matching various activities to achieve the weekly exercise goal - all based on research into basic aerobic fitness.
Russian Kettlebells (Score:4, Informative)
Not a whole lot more to say on the subject. Do some swings and get-ups once or twice a day, and you'll be fit and trim. Unless you eat trash and guzzle carbonated sugar water all day. In which case, you're fucked no matter what you do.
HIIT works, but you have to do it (Score:4, Interesting)
HIIT has actually been around and been discussed in running groups for a number of years. Lest you think I am pulling this from where the sun doesn't shine, I write this from some personal experience; I am an experienced ultramarathoner (six 50 milers). HIIT is extremely difficult for "normal" people to do as an ongoing exercise program.
The great majority of Americans are simply not capable of pushing themselves as hard as is required for a successful HIIT regimen. If you're not capable of pushing yourself to do this type of strenuous exercise, you're not going to do it. It's as simple as that.
HIIT will work extraordinarily well for people that are already moderately fit or even overweight if they are capable of pushing through their pain (not the physical pain, the mental pain). Again, and again, and again; and each iteration is harder than the last.
Most people - especially the great unwashed overweight masses (pun intended) - aren't willing or capable of doing this, and simply aren't going to do it. They would be better served starting out just walking briskly for 30 minutes four or five times a week.
Hey everyone (Score:3)
Ride a BIKE
I smoke, drink, and eat some godawful crap, I'm nearly 30 and I still run up and down stairs two at a time like a ten year old. Because rather than all this pretentious exercise, I go out and play in the mud once a week like god intended!
This fitness freak thing is really getting old. People don't avoid the gym because they are lazy, they avoid it because they DONT WANT TO BE LIKE YOU!
I Got That Covered (Score:3)
Short, intense bursts with light effort in between?
20 minutes a day?
Twice a week?
BRB interval training/taking a shit.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Don't do this if you're very unfit. (Score:5, Informative)
No it won't. In fact, as you get fit your max HR may decrease. However, you will be able sustain it much longer. Your heart will become stronger, will move more blood per stroke, and your circulatory resistance will decrease. Your resting HR (and your blood pressure) will drop substantially so that your ratio of max HR to resting HR will increase even if your max HR decreases.
Re:Don't do this if you're very unfit. (Score:4, Informative)
The more fit you are, the harder it becomes to approach your max heart rate. Your max doesn't get higher.
Re:Don't do this if you're very unfit. (Score:4, Informative)
Not unless you have a serious heart condition. It is impossible for a healthy person (no matter how unfit) to injure his heart by working it hard.
Interval training is excellent. I do roughly what the article describes every other day (on the other days I just run two miles). This keeps my blood pressure below 120 and my resting heart rate in the low fifties.
Re:Define FItness (Score:5, Informative)
Define Fitness
Defined:
Despite these differences, both protocols induced similar increases (P < 0.05) in mitochondrial markers for skeletal muscle CHO (pyruvate dehydrogenase E1alpha protein content) and lipid oxidation (3-hydroxyacyl CoA dehydrogenase maximal activity) and protein content of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1alpha. Glycogen and phosphocreatine utilization during exercise were reduced after training, and calculated rates of whole-body CHO and lipid oxidation were decreased and increased, respectively, with no differences between groups (all main effects, P < 0.05).
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
In the UK, it's easy to lose hundreds of pounds just by joining the gym...