Fitness

Experts Share The Bare Minimum Amount Of Exercise You Need To Be Healthy

Published

5 months ago

January 31, 2024

Experts Share The Bare Minimum Amount Of Exercise You Need To Be Healthy

Exercise is indisputably one of the best things you can do for your brain and body. Which begs the question (at least from me) ― what’s the absolute bare minimum I have to do to get by?

So, we at HuffPost UK thought we’d speak to some experts about the topic for the sake of ourselves any curious reader.

We chatted to Dr. Richie Kirwan, Lecturer in Exercise Physiology at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), and Olivia Tyler, National Fitness Assurance Lead at Nuffield Health about what exercise is, how much of it we need to do, and whether or not the levels change as we age.

Here’s what we found out:

Well, let’s start off with what exercise really is

“The UK currently has guidelines for physical activity which is different from exercise,” Dr. Kirwan informed HuffPost UK.

“Physical activity is any movement that requires you to use energy to move your muscles so can be things like walking or cycling to work, cleaning the house, gardening, etc.

“Exercise, on the other hand, is any structured/planned movement that we carry out with the specific goal of improving or maintaining our health or fitness ― so cycling to work is physical activity but going for a cycle after work to stay fit is exercise.”

You’ve probably heard recommendations for 150 minutes of physical activity a week.

But, Dr. Kirwan points out, this is for moderate-intensity activity; it drops down to 75 minutes if you’re going harder (ie exercising to a level that makes breathing hard and fast and makes it difficult to speak).

“We [at LJMU] have a lot of research showing that vigorous or more intense activity is more probably more beneficial, or equally beneficial in a shorter period of time,” the doctor points out, “but combining moderate and vigorous is probably an even better option.”

So, the harder I work out, the less time I can spend in the gym?

Well, don’t skip taking the stairs and enjoy your morning walk if you can, as moderate physical activity is great. But possibly, yes ― adding some intensive exercise may be a less time-consuming way of getting those minutes in.

“At LJMU we’ve done quite a bit of research on High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and shown you can get many of the cardiovascular benefits as more moderate exercise in a shorter amount of time,” Dr. Kirwan shared with HuffPost UK.

“And in the modern world, many people are time-poor, so time efficiency is important.”

Then, there’s lifting weights and doing other strengthening exercises; these can help to prevent “muscle and strength loss with ageing (called sarcopenia)”, Dr. Kirwan says. Sarcopenia is associated with conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and bone conditions.

“Doing strength-focused weightlifting workouts can take more time as you need more rest between your sets to recover so this might not be achievable when life gets really busy,” Tyler said.

But “Some people like to split their weeks into different areas of their body, for example doing chest and tris on one day, back and bis on a separate day and legs on another” ― this can help to save time.

Do I still need to exercise as much as I age?

Grip strength is a greater indicator of cardiovascular risk among older people than even blood pressure ― so it’s no surprise that Dr. Kirwan says “exercise is something we should all do throughout our lives but is probably even more important for older people.”

He added that while older people newer to exercise “should speak with an exercise professional who can introduce them to the correct activity and intensity to start at (based on their fitness level and mobility),” age shouldn’t deter people from intense activity.

He mentioned one study involving a 93-year-old Irish rower who took up the sport at 73 and became a champion in his 90s.

70% of his routine consisted of the easier physical activity we talked about earlier ― but when he did practice rowing, he upped the intensity week on week.

“A lot of people don’t think about progression at all but it’s important,” Dr. Kirwan said. “We get used to exercise eventually and need to continue to challenge ourselves with intensity etc.”

So, what’s the bare minimum I have to do?

Both experts agree that some exercise is always better than none, across all age groups.

“The guidelines are that anything is always better than nothing. Your workouts should be built into your week as part of your routine and so you can only fit in what you have time for,” Tyler says.

Dr. Kirwan agrees, saying “if someone is completely inactive, starting any form of physical activity (as long as it’s not too strenuous) is beneficial.“

But to make those minutes count more and work harder, it’s a good idea to combine sneaky workouts (like gardening, cleaning, and walking to the shops) with intentional exercise sessions; if you want to chop down your time in the gym, make those intense, and try to progress in your chosen exercise every week.

Strength training is important, too ― by mixing up your workouts and strategically moving your body, you should be able to optimise the 75 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise (or 150 minutes of more easy-going physical activity) experts prescribe.

Fitness

Celeb Fitness: Alaya F Needs Help As She Gets Stuck While Performing A Super-Flexible Exercise

Published

3 hours ago

July 5, 2024

Press Room

Celeb Fitness: Alaya F Needs Help As She Gets Stuck While Performing A Super-Flexible Exercise

The actor has been setting many interesting fitness goals lately. (Photo: Instagram/@alayaf)

To validate the fact that Alaya is indeed the most flexible actor among all her peers, her followers left interesting comments on her post. “Thank God there’s something your body can’t do. Yet, insane flexibility,” someone wrote.

Alaya F is pretty active on social media, wherein she keeps sharing pictures and videos from her workout sessions. The actor does a combination of yoga and dancing to stay fit, and her Instagram account is peppered with enviable posts from her many fitness sessions. Alaya, who is the daughter of actor Pooja Bedi, also likes to throw in a mix of balancing activities to her routine. Lately, she has been doing a lot of it. But, what stood out among her many posts was this bizarre flexibility routine that made it appear as though the ‘Freddy‘ actor was in immense pain. Take a look.

It began with the 26-year-old hanging from a bar, twisting her entire body to emerge on the other side. While this required immense arm strength, at one point Alaya got stuck with one leg stretched out and the other placed on her shoulder. While she is extremely flexible to have attempted this brave pose in the first place, Alaya, while taking deep breaths, appeared to struggle quite a bit and called for her trainer to rescue her.
He helped the actor by providing her back support as she returned to her original position, without the twists and the turns. And, as if to validate the fact that Alaya is indeed the most flexible actor among all her peers, her followers left interesting comments on her post.
“Thank God there’s something your body can’t do. Yet, insane flexibility,” someone wrote. Another person commented: “Have you started preparing for the Olympics?”
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As mentioned earlier, Alaya has also been doing plenty of balancing workouts of late, which entail standing on the gym ball and doing squats. Take a look at one such video.

“Legs are burning, feet are burning, toes are burning, but I made it to 10 squats on the gym ball! Nothing feels better than progress. Please see how happy I am when I reach 10 and how dead I am when I get off the ball,” the actor wrote.

In another video, she perfected her balance on the wobbly gym ball, and even managed to train with weights! Alaya hopped on the ball while dumbbells, squatted, and also worked on the muscles of her arms and shoulders by lifting the weights.

She has been setting interesting fitness goals, isn’t it?

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Fitness

A gentle 30-minute workout for days when you're feeling low energy | CBC Life

Published

11 hours ago

July 4, 2024

Press Room

A gentle 30-minute workout for days when you're feeling low energy | CBC Life

“Should I work out on my period?” is a question that fitness coach Beverley Cheng hears a lot. So, it wasn’t particularly surprising when her time of the month workout quickly became the most popular video in her series for CBC Life.

Now she’s back with part two! In the latest video from her series Fit for Me, Beverley leads you through 30 minutes of deep stretches and mobility exercises that are ideal for when you’re dealing with cramps, bloating or low energy, but still want to get some gentle movement in. While a resistance band is recommended, you can also do the entire routine using just your bodyweight.

Check out the video, then scroll down for the full list of exercises in this workout. Let’s get started!

30-minute low-impact workout

1 set:

Plank push back + knee drive (L) x 45 secs
Deep kneeling lunge + lean back (L) x 30 secs
Plank push back + knee drive (R) x 45 secs
Deep kneeling lunge + lean back (R) x 30 secs
Alternating plank knee drives x 60 secs

2 sets:

Glute bridge + fly x 60 secs
Glute bridge + pulse x 45 secs
Glute bridge hold x 30 secs
Happy baby
Forward fold stretch

1 set:

Low squat to reverse lunge x 60 secs
BW RDL x 60 secs
Narrow stance squat x 60 secs
Wide stance hamstring stretch x 60 secs
Lateral side-to-side stretch x 30 secs
Frog stretch

2 sets:

Alternating heel taps x 60 secs
Russian twists x 45 secs
Forearm plank knee drops x 30 secs
Cobra/Mini cobras

Produced in collaboration with CBC Creator Network.

Fitness

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: New rules say you can exercise

Published

18 hours ago

July 4, 2024

Press Room

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: New rules say you can exercise

About 1 in 500 people have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

It’s a condition where the heart muscle becomes abnormally thick.

HCM is one of the most common causes of sudden death among young athletes and otherwise healthy adults.

In the past, athletes and other patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy were told to sit on the sidelines.

But it may be time to get back into the game.

The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology recently released new guidelines on this condition.

The guideline’s writing committee chair and Mayo Clinic Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Clinic medical director Dr Steve Ommen says that with exercise and proper medication management, patients can return to their normal daily routines.

“Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy should not be an automatic disqualification from pursuing sports,” he says.

Patients with HCM might benefit from being active, he notes.

“Our current recommendations are that patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy participate in low to moderate intensity exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle, and that it’s reasonable for them to do more vigorous activities as well,” he says.

A new class of medications is on the roster, giving patients more options to manage their disease.

“Usually, there’s some simple medications the patient may try first, and then, if that’s not effective, they will have an option of this medication; an older medication called disopyramide; an operation called surgical myectomy; or a catheter-based solution, alcohol septal ablation,” Dr. Ommen explains.

It’s a good idea to check with your healthcare team before making changes to medications or daily routines.

HCM symptoms include:

Chest pain, especially while exercising.
Fainting during or after physical activity.
Shortness of breath during exercise.
Heart palpitations or rapid heartbeats. – Sonya Goins/Mayo Clinic News Network/Tribune News Service