Ten minutes of exercise is 'as good as hours in the gym' or cleaning the home can help people lose weight
By Daniel Bates
Short bursts of exercise lasting less than 10 minutes give you the same health benefits as slugging it out at the gym for hours.
Researchers have found that even walking to the bus stop or cleaning your home can help you lose weight and lower your cholesterol.
Activities like mowing the lawn and even fishing can also lower your risk of heart disease.
A Boston University study found that so long as the 10 minute bursts make up your daily quota of exercise, you will see the difference on your body.
It concluded that ‘some exercise is better than nothing’ and that by adding up the small things you can have big impact.
For the experiment the researchers attached a motion detector to to 2,109 men and woman with an average age of 47. More than half were overweight.
The sensor - called an accelerometer - allowed them to monitor all their activity, rather than asking them to fill out a questionnaire in which they might not have listed everything they did.
The results showed that compared to those who did not do enough exercise, everyone who did so weighed less, had lower BMI and lower cholesterol.
Exercising had a stronger impact on cardiovascular risk factors in women than men, possibly because of physiological differences or unmeasured factors.
But significantly, the benefits of short bursts of less than 10 minutes yielded the same benefits as those who worked out for longer.
Examples of activities which counted included everything from cleaning the garage to badminton and golf.
More strenuous activities like hiking, jogging, shovelling counted too.
The researchers said the findings may work as an encouragement to those who do not have enough time to work out - or cannot muster the energy to do so after a long day.
According to NHS guidelines, adults should get at least two hours and 30 minutes or moderate intensity exercise a week, such as fast walking, or 75 minutes of high intensity exercise such as swimming.
The two may be mixed together if a person so chooses, so long as they hit the target.
Lead Researcher Professor Nicole Glazer of Boston University School of Medicine, said: ‘I think it’s really important finding - because of the high levels of sedentary behaviour it is crucial to get people to be more active.
‘Going to the gym is not the only thing you can do and things like taking the stairs and walking for the bus do add up.
‘It’s important to exercise even if you do not have time to do so, and you can fit it into your day’.
dailymail
|