Everyone has a different relationship with exercise. You might be a fitness junkie, hitting the gym five days a week or training for a marathon to push your body’s limits. But for most Americans, physical activity it takes a back seat to everything else going on in life.
Only 26% of men, 19% of women and 20% of teenagers do aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities to meet the guidelines, Department of Health and Human Services.
If you’re one of the many people who don’t meet the minimum exercise recommendations today (150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week), you may be missing out on big gains. duration and the healthaccording to a new study published in the journal British Journal of Sports Medicine.
The researchers analyzed 2017 mortality data from the CDC National Center for Health Statistics. More than 36,000 Americans over the age of 40 were included, based on data on their physical activity levels from 2003 to 2006. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. They have analyzed how much physical activity has reduced or increased life expectancy.
The researchers translated moderate or vigorous exercise into equivalent minutes of walking to make comparisons between groups easier to interpret.
Activity levels were divided into four categories: the least active people walked the equivalent of 50 minutes a day; the next group was on daily 80-minute walks; the third group at 110 minutes, and the most active group did the equivalent of walking 160 minutes – almost three hours – a day.
One of the most surprising results of the study: “The incredible life expectancy that inactive people can achieve,” says lead author Lennert Veerman, professor of public health at Griffith University School of Medicine in Australia.
If all people were as active as 25% of the population studied, Americans over 40 could live an average of 5.3 years longer, increasing their life expectancy to about 84 years, according to the study. And if the least active increased their exercise to the most active level, they gained 11 years more life.
Big profits for the least active
It might be time to start upping your exercise game if you find yourself in the least active group: “People who are currently inactive stand to gain the most,” says Veerman. luck. An extra hour of walking can give these people an extra six hours, he added.
Although this inactive group in the study was classified as walking 50 minutes per day, this number is likely to come from regular daily movement, that is, they do not do moderate or vigorous physical activity beyond the basic movements of activities of daily living, i.e. important for general health.
You have a lot to lose by being inactive, says Veerman. If all Americans age 40 and older were as inactive as the least active 25% of the population, there would be a loss of 5.8 years of life expectancy, and life expectancy at birth would drop to about 73 years based on 2017 data.
Any increase in movement is helpful
Even increasing your activity level can bring great benefits. In the case of the least active, the promotion to the second group led to a life expectancy of 0.6 years, and the promotion to the third group added 3.5 years, corresponding to a life expectancy of 79 and 82 years.
When it comes to assets, Veerman says you’ve probably maximized your longevity gains.
The United States physical activity guidelines for Americans Emphasize the well-being importance of exercise, not just the longevity benefits. Exercise helps people sleep better, perform daily tasks more easily, improve physical and cognitive function, mental health and energy levels, the DHHS says.
The DHHS emphasizes the importance of including moderate-intensity and vigorous exercise every day. That can be difficult if you live in car-dependent areas and don’t have a regular exercise routine, Veerman notes. But, every little bit counts, he says.
Here are ways you can incorporate more movement into your day, or what Veerman calls “essential physical activity”:
- Take as many stairs as possible.
- Try to choose public transport, go to bus or train stations and walk.
- Use a standing mobile desk to alternate between standing and sitting.
- Go to the water cooler, to the printer, to the bathroom, or to get coffee at work.
“Try to find small things that don’t require a lot of effort,” says Veerman. “Little things can make a big difference over the years.”
More about the workouts:
