Part of what the article says is "Adults need at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise per week, according to the World Health Organization."
It bugs me when people leave out the units. The title says we need 150-300 minutes of activity on our adult lifetime, which is woefully inadequate.
That includes walking to the coffee-machine, to the elevator, to the car, etc.
If you walk a moderate 100 steps/minute, 49 minutes of walking is just 4900 steps which is easy to hit without even really intentionally walking anywhere, unless you work from home without going outside
I think the article got confused between per-week and per-day; otherwise the numbers are internally inconsistent, and difficult to believe. I don't think the top quartile of the US exercises 3 hours a day! And there's no way the bottom quartile exercises 49 minutes a day: 49 minutes a week for chores, errands, and walking to/from your car sounds more correct.
Also note that they were wearing hip pedometers, which might overestimate "moderate" exercise compared to something that also tracks heart rate.
Office/desk work is better than WFH for getting movement in. A basic stuck at desk all day sort of day would be no less than 4k steps for me - WFH ~0 steps.
Everytime I read these stats I can't stop but feel like we as a specie completely fucked up, modern life is actively working against us
Most people don't get 75 min of vigorous exercise per week? 10min per day? The average American spend 2x more time watching TV per day than exercising in a week?
The closest thing to an health magic pill we have is exercise and it's virtually free
But the article itself talks about how if you move as much as the top quartile, the study predicts gains of years on your life (5-11).
"Total activity levels in the lowest quartile were equivalent to walking for 49 minutes at roughly 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) per hour daily. Total activity levels in the second-, third- and fourth-highest quartiles were equivalent to 78, 105 and 160 minutes, respectively."
That's 160 minutes of physical activity daily, which includes things like walking to a store or up stairs, not just vigorous exercise as the WHO guidelines recommend.
> Find more moments to move throughout your day. While your food’s heating up, do some squats or take a lap around your work building instead of scrolling through social media. When you’re running errands, park as far away from stores as possible. Getting coffee with a friend? Catch up during a walk in the park instead of sitting in the coffee shop.
The last one about taking a walk with a friend sounds nice, but the other ones sound like the worst ways to get activity ever
Constantly forcing yourself to do things is hard and probably will fail. If you find things you enjoy doing, getting activity can be a treat rather than a chore, regardless if it's taking a dog for a walk, going to every museum in town, or finding a sport you like
Wrong mindset in my opinion. Uncomfortable workouts are for delayed satisfaction of a more healthy outcome. I actually think you have it backwards. I think it's more likely you exercise less and never reach consistency if you expect all exercise to be enjoyable.
Overweight people (bmi 25-30) live longer. I bet they will eventually change bmi classifications to make that range normal. Underweight and obese people live less. But even there obese are probably better off than underweight. Being overweight is in itself exercise for the heart and your calves and every other muscle probably.
Part of what the article says is "Adults need at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise per week, according to the World Health Organization."
It bugs me when people leave out the units. The title says we need 150-300 minutes of activity on our adult lifetime, which is woefully inadequate.
Here’s the actual study: https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2024/10/07/bjsports-2024-...
49 minutes of walking a day is higher then I woukd have guessed for the lowest quartile. Office/desk work is brutal for getting movement in.
That includes walking to the coffee-machine, to the elevator, to the car, etc.
If you walk a moderate 100 steps/minute, 49 minutes of walking is just 4900 steps which is easy to hit without even really intentionally walking anywhere, unless you work from home without going outside
I think the article got confused between per-week and per-day; otherwise the numbers are internally inconsistent, and difficult to believe. I don't think the top quartile of the US exercises 3 hours a day! And there's no way the bottom quartile exercises 49 minutes a day: 49 minutes a week for chores, errands, and walking to/from your car sounds more correct.
Also note that they were wearing hip pedometers, which might overestimate "moderate" exercise compared to something that also tracks heart rate.
Office/desk work is better than WFH for getting movement in. A basic stuck at desk all day sort of day would be no less than 4k steps for me - WFH ~0 steps.
> Adults need at min. 150 to 300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity
... per week.
(Or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous exercise.)
Everytime I read these stats I can't stop but feel like we as a specie completely fucked up, modern life is actively working against us
Most people don't get 75 min of vigorous exercise per week? 10min per day? The average American spend 2x more time watching TV per day than exercising in a week?
The closest thing to an health magic pill we have is exercise and it's virtually free
Actually, that's how the article ends, and is the general guidance from the WHO (as linked from the article: https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/25/health/world-health-organizat... )
But the article itself talks about how if you move as much as the top quartile, the study predicts gains of years on your life (5-11).
"Total activity levels in the lowest quartile were equivalent to walking for 49 minutes at roughly 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) per hour daily. Total activity levels in the second-, third- and fourth-highest quartiles were equivalent to 78, 105 and 160 minutes, respectively."
That's 160 minutes of physical activity daily, which includes things like walking to a store or up stairs, not just vigorous exercise as the WHO guidelines recommend.
> Find more moments to move throughout your day. While your food’s heating up, do some squats or take a lap around your work building instead of scrolling through social media. When you’re running errands, park as far away from stores as possible. Getting coffee with a friend? Catch up during a walk in the park instead of sitting in the coffee shop.
The last one about taking a walk with a friend sounds nice, but the other ones sound like the worst ways to get activity ever
Constantly forcing yourself to do things is hard and probably will fail. If you find things you enjoy doing, getting activity can be a treat rather than a chore, regardless if it's taking a dog for a walk, going to every museum in town, or finding a sport you like
Wrong mindset in my opinion. Uncomfortable workouts are for delayed satisfaction of a more healthy outcome. I actually think you have it backwards. I think it's more likely you exercise less and never reach consistency if you expect all exercise to be enjoyable.
Did they control for weight? Because overweight and obese people are likely to have both shorter lifespan and more sedentary lifestyle.
Overweight people (bmi 25-30) live longer. I bet they will eventually change bmi classifications to make that range normal. Underweight and obese people live less. But even there obese are probably better off than underweight. Being overweight is in itself exercise for the heart and your calves and every other muscle probably.
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> Live longer -Adults need at min. 150 to 300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity
Per century ? /s