Even Mini Workouts Can Improve Your Health
Even Mini Workouts Can Improve Your Health
Federal guidelines suggest that an adult should get 150 minutes of low intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity weekly. The federal guidelines are based on basic science – anatomy and physiology. So basically they are answering, “What’s the least I can do to keep my muscular, skeletal and vascular systems healthy for the long run?” So what’s with the mini workout craze? While a workout that’s 1/10th of what’s recommended doesn’t seem like sound science, perhaps these mini workouts should be looked at from a different perspective. Here’s some insight from Hall Chiropractic.
How Short Bursts of Activity Benefit Your Health
Stressing your body through exercise for even a short time triggers (although small) physiological changes by increasing blood flow and sharpening the body’s blood sugar-regulating abilities. These reactions can help reduce your risk for diabetes, heart disease and stroke. People who exercise intensely and/or often, may not see much benefit from mini workouts but the average couch surfer or desk jockey may. By replacing any amount of sedentary time with movement, you replace the sedentary cycle with a movement cycle. Many studies have shown how the benefits of exercise increase as the time and/or intensity of exercise increases. Therefore, work toward moving those mini workouts into something longer and more challenging and yes, more beneficial.
Intensity and Duration Matter
All exercise is equal…in a relative way. In other words, a sprint to a sprinter is as challenging as a walk is to a walker. Even everyday chores (activity) have some level of benefit. But truly, intensity does matter; so the big idea is that a few minutes of movement will lead to bigger and better things. Research shows that cardiorespiratory fitness is a better predictor of life span than body mass index. Other studies show that movement is beneficial to one’s mental well-being. So, the smart money says there’s no reason to stop after a few minutes if you have the time and ability to continue.
Ultimately, intensity does matter. Two major predictors of exercise related longevity, grip strength and aerobic capacity, improve proportionally to increased output. Building intensity over time is always the safe way to go. Maybe short walks lead to longer, brisker walks or lifting one pound leads to five pounds multiple times. You get the picture. The takeaway is that some exercise is always better than none, and every additional bit adds up.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2712935
http://www.epi.umn.edu/cvdepi/study-synopsis/london-transport-workers-study/
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pcad.2013.09.002
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6778477/
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