February 16, 2016

We all know we should exercise. If there was a pill that could do what exercise does to promote health in the human body it would be prescribed for everyone! The main question has always been about how much exercise we need minimally to get the positive benefits, and how much to get the optimal ones. At what point is doing more no longer better for us?

Two new studies give evidence that the right dose of exercise is as follows:

1. People who did not exercise at all had the highest risk of early death .
2. Those who exercise under 150 minutes of moderate cardio/week had about a 20% less risk of early death. Exercises were things like walking, friendly sets of tennis, gardening, etc.
3. People who did 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise, had a 31 % less risk of dying.
4. Those who did 450 minutes or more/week (an average of over an hour per day)had a 39% less risk of premature death. At this point more exercise didn't significantly increase life expectancy.
5. Those who spent at least 30% of their exercise time (~20-30 minutes of the 150 weekly exercise minutes) in vigorous or strenuous exercise had even greater benefits. These included running, hard sets of tennis, exercise classes, etc.
6. There wasn't an increase in the death rates in those who exercised the most intensely.