A recent Finnish study has found that good physical fitness from childhood to adolescence is linked to better mental health in adolescence. These results are significant and timely, as mental health problems are currently a major societal challenge, affecting up to 25%-30% of young people. These findings suggest that improving physical fitness from childhood can help prevent mental health problems.
In a study by the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Jyväskylä and the Institute of Biomedicine at the University of Eastern Finland, the physical fitness of 241 adolescents was followed from childhood to adolescence for eight years. The study showed that better cardiorespiratory fitness and improvements in it from childhood to adolescence were associated with fewer stress and depressive symptoms in adolescence.
Additionally, the study found that better motor fitness from childhood to adolescence was associated with better cognitive function and fewer stress and depressive symptoms. However, the association between motor fitness and depressive symptoms was weaker than the one between cardiorespiratory fitness and depressive symptoms. Screen time measured in adolescence partly explained the associations of cardiorespiratory fitness and motor fitness with mental health.
These findings advocate for investment in physical fitness early in life as a potential strategy for mitigating mental health and cognitive issues in adolescence.
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The concern about the declining physical fitness in children and adolescents is real. However, the focus has been on physical health.
Our results should encourage policymakers as well as parents and guardians to see the significance of physical fitness more holistically, as poor physical fitness can increase mental health challenges and impair cognitive skills needed for learning.”
Eero Haapala, Senior Lecturer of Sports and Exercise Medicine, Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä
“The whole of society should support physical fitness development in children and adolescents by increasing physical activity participation at school, during leisure time, and in hobbies,” emphasizes Haapala.
This study is based on longitudinal data from the ongoing Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children (PANIC) study conducted at the Institute of Biomedicine, University of Eastern Finland, and led by Professor Timo Lakka. The study followed the physical fitness of 241 individuals for eight years, from childhood to adolescence. Mental health assessments were conducted during adolescence. The study was published in Sports Medicine.
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The PANIC Study is part of the Metabolic Diseases Research Community at the University of Eastern Finland. The research community is dedicated to investigating major cardiometabolic diseases. By leveraging genetics, genomics, translational research, and lifestyle interventions, the community aims to provide robust evidence on disease mechanisms and advance early diagnosis, prevention, and personalized treatment. The research community consists of 20 research groups, spanning basic research to patient care.
Source:
University of Jyväskylä
Journal reference:
Haapala, E. A., et al. (2024) Childhood Physical Fitness as a Predictor of Cognition and Mental Health in Adolescence: The PANIC Study. Sports Medicine. doi.org/10.1007/s40279-024-02107-z.
A good workout can help you build muscle, get a better night’s sleep, and feel really good. But it might even help you live longer, a new study found.
You don’t even need to do anything drastic to reap the benefits. Here’s what researchers found, plus how to ramp up your own exercise routine to get the perks.
Meet the experts: Ryan Glatt, CPT, is a senior brain health coach and director of the FitBrain Program at Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica, California. Albert Matheny, RD, CSCS, is a personal trainer and co-founder of SoHo Strength Lab.
What did the study find?
The study, which was published in the journal Circulation, analyzed data from two U.S. cohorts of more than 116,000 adults on their exercise routines and overall health. (Data was collected from the participants 15 times over 30 years.)
Scientists found that people who did 300 to 599 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week had a 26 to 31 percent lower all-cause mortality and a 28 to 38 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease mortality. They also had an up to 27 percent lower risk of dying from something outside of cardiovascular disease. (Moderate physical activity is defined as walking, weightlifting, and other types of lower-intensity exercise, according to the American Medical Association.)
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That, of course, goes far beyond the recommended 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise advised by the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. But it appears as if working out more can raise your odds of living longer.
Can exercise make me live longer?
There are a lot of factors that go into how long you live, but plenty of research suggests that an exercise habit is linked with a larger life span.
For example, a recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that people over the age of 40 could live an extra 5.3 years if they were as active as the top 25 percent of the population. And an older scientific analysis concluded that people who are physically active are up to 35 percent less likely to die from any cause compared to their inactive counterparts.
“Physical activity is an essential, but underutilized, strategy for aging well,” says Ryan Glatt, CPT, a senior brain health coach and director of the FitBrain Program at Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica, California. “Even minimal activity levels can provide substantial health benefits, including disease prevention and improved quality of life.”
What type of exercise will make me live longer?
In general, any kind of activity seems to help people live longer. However, research suggests that strength training can make you biologically younger, while kettlebell training can help you to age more smoothly.
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If I’m not active, how can I get into exercise?
It’s important to start slowly, says Albert Matheny, RD, CSCS, a personal trainer and co-founder of SoHo Strength Lab. “At different points in your fitness, different exercises are appropriate,” he says. Meaning, you shouldn’t expect to be able to run a marathon if you’re not even doing a walking routine right now.
You can start out small by doing things like going for regular walks at a higher intensity, then ramping up to going for jogs and runs. You can eventually add in things like HIIT classes and strength training.
When you do strength training, Matheny says it’s important to focus on big muscle groups, like your legs. “Body weight exercises—lunges, squats, planks—are great for most people,” he says.
If you want a more defined introduction to exercise, Women’s Health has a four-week beginner workout plan to guide you through.
Ultimately, Matheny says it’s important to come up with a routine you can follow consistently. “Just do the best you can,” he says.
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Korin Miller is a freelance writer specializing in general wellness, sexual health and relationships, and lifestyle trends, with work appearing in Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Self, Glamour, and more. She has a master’s degree from American University, lives by the beach, and hopes to own a teacup pig and taco truck one day.
Reducing belly fat around the abdomen is a common weight-loss goal shared among people worldwide. Even after working very hard on your fitness, losing belly fat in particular can feel impossible at times. In her recent Instagram video, fitness instructor Yasmin Karachiwala showed a few efficient ab workouts for beginners as well as advanced fitness enthusiasts. Sharing the video, she wrote, “Let’s burn that belly fat. Abs workout for all levels—3 sets x 15 reps. Ready? Let’s do this!” In the shared video, Yasmin suggested 3 abs workouts for beginners including curl up legs down, reverse curls and crisscross. Next up, she demonstrated a bunch of exercises for people with intermediate-level fitness and lastly shared a workout routine for advanced level. Check out the full video here:
In her previous post, Yasmin Karachiwala shared a video of her using Theraband for doing on-the-go exercises. She said, “Today I want to share with you that one thing that I don’t travel without – the theraband. I love travelling with this because A. It is so light. B. It becomes so tiny that it can fit anywhere in your travel bag and C. It enhances resistance, which increases your strength, builds flexibility and also tones your body. Let me show you some exercises that you can do when you are on the go or at home.”
Yasmin followed it by showcasing clips of her performing different exercises with a theraband which includes workout routines for shoulder, chest, bicep, abs, leg and more.
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In the caption, she wrote, “Introducing you to my favourite travel buddy—Theraband. Follow my full body workout and practice 15 reps and 3 sets for each exercise. Try them out and let me know your progress.”
Without further ado, follow Yasmin Karachiwala’s workout recommendations and get going on your fitness journey.
Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for a qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.
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“Walking is the best form of exercise you can do,” says Dr Elroy Aguiar, an assistant professor of exercise science at The University of Alabama.
“It’s easily accessible, with a low barrier to entry in terms of cost, equipment and skill requirements. The vast majority of the population can easily get outside and go for a walk; that’s why we say walking is the best recommendation for exercise.”
But, as with anything simple and successful, the internet has found a way to complicate it. Enter the 12-3-30 method – walking on a treadmill with its incline set to 12, at 3mph, for 30 minutes.
Influencer Lauren Giraldo brought the method into the mainstream, claiming it helped her lose 30lb (just over 13.5kg). Now this “cardio hack” has racked up millions of views on Tiktok, with top videos promising rapid weight loss and a “toned” physique.
As a fitness writer who’s ever-sceptical of anything that sounds too good to be true, I decided to give it a go for myself, and see how it compared to simply walking 10,000 steps a day sans-treadmill – which is something I’ve enjoyed doing for years with no complaints.
How to do the 12-3-30 workout
If you want to try the 12-3-30 trend, all you need is a treadmill and a spare 30 minutes. Set the treadmill’s incline to 12, bump the speed up to 3mph (or 4.8kph if, like me, your treadmill of choice only operates in the metric system) then walk for 30 minutes. You can do this in the gym, or using your treadmill at home.
My thoughts on the 12-3-30 workout
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There’s logic behind the 12-3-30 workout. The treadmill offers a more controlled environment than a regular walk, so you can dictate variables like the gradient and pace.
“What you’re doing by increasing the incline is increasing the intensity of the activity,” Dr Aguiar explains. “Incline walking is much more difficult, so it’s going to increase oxygen cost, heart rate and energy expenditure.”
This can improve your cardiovascular fitness. Paired with an appropriate diet, it can also aid weight loss, increasing energy expenditure to create a calorie deficit. But there’s no magic formula to it, you’re just moving more, and some Tiktok videos may overstate its effectiveness on the fat loss front – consistency and time are the real secret ingredients if this is your goal.
Trying the 12-3-30 workout for myself, I wound up far sweatier than I expected; I was essentially walking up a fairly steep hill for 30 minutes. The time went fairly quickly, and compared to a run it didn’t take nearly as much preparation or motivation to get started. These are all plus-points, supporting its reputation as a “cardio hack”. However, I still took umbrage with some elements.
Firstly, I found it a bit boring. I was facing a blank gym wall for the full half hour and, although I roped a friend in to join me for a chat, I’d still rather head to an actual hill for a more stimulating walk.
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It also doesn’t include any sort of progression. The workout will keep burning calories, sure, but if you want to see continued improvements in your fitness then you need to gradually make your training more challenging over time by upping various variables – in the case of a treadmill, the main ones are speed, gradient and time.
My other main qualm is that this workout keeps you cooped up inside. As someone who works from home most days, I’d rather use this time to head outdoors and reap the many benefits of doing so.
“Ideally, it’s good to get outside because there are other benefits – interacting with your environment, sun exposure, those sorts of things,” Dr Aguiar tells me.
Read more: I walked 10,000 steps with a weighted backpack every day for a week – here are five reasons I’m not stopping
My thoughts on walking 10,000 steps a day
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Walking 10,000 steps per day has become a popular fitness goal thanks to fitness trackers making it their default target. But the figure really stems from a 1960s Japanese pedometer called the Manpo-Kei or “10,000 steps metre”. In other words, it’s rooted in marketing, not science.
The actual amount you need to walk each day to see most health benefits is more like 8,000 steps, studies have shown. However, I’ve found walking 10,000 steps a day works for me, and I’ve been doing it for years.
Getting on my feet and out of the house boosts my mood and helps my body feel looser after a day at my desk. I can squeeze extra steps in throughout the day with a lunchtime wander or stroll to the shops, and I enjoy it, often exploring new places or meeting friends for an on-the-go catch-up. For me, an ever-changing natural environment is far more engaging than a blank gym wall too.
Research supports my feel-good theory, with a study published in the Scientific Reports journal finding that spending at least 120 minutes per week in nature is “associated with good health and wellbeing”.
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But there are some drawbacks to this practice too. Without a treadmill belt forcing you to walk fairly fast, it’s easy to let your pace drop while out for a walk. And Dr Aguiar’s research suggests that walking speed could be linked to the health benefits on offer from getting your steps in.
“The recommendation from our studies has shown that, if you walk at a cadence of about 100 steps per minute, that’s equivalent to what’s called ‘moderate intensity’,” he explains. “All of the research in this area suggests that most of the benefits accumulate at a moderate or higher intensity.”
Read more: You only need three moves and one dumbbell for the best abs workout at home, according to a top trainer
The verdict: 12-3-30 workout vs 10,000 steps a day
Both the 12-3-30 workout and walking 10,000 steps a day have pros and cons. However, the mental and physical benefits of both far outweigh any drawbacks.
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Personally, I found walking 10,000 steps a day was the better option by far, leaving me feeling far better than spending 30 minutes staring at a treadmill screen. However, there will be people out there who prefer the structure and tangibility of the 12-3-30 method.
Which brings us to the deciding factors: enjoyment and accessibility. Which one are you able to do regularly, and which one is fun enough to keep you coming back for more?
“I’m not going to dissuade anyone from doing any sort of exercise,” Dr Aguiar says. “Whether people choose to exercise inside on a treadmill or outside by walking around a park, there are benefits to both. And if people are enjoying doing the 12-3-30 trend, good on them.”
In short, adding some extra movement into your routine is rarely a bad thing. If you find something that works for you then it’s well worth sticking with it, rather than flitting between the ever-flowing stream of fitness fads that dominates social media.
As Giraldo says in her initial video on the topic: “I used to be so intimidated by the gym and it wasn’t motivating. But now I go and do this one thing and I can feel good about myself… I look forward to it, it’s my me-time.”
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Read more: Adam Peaty reveals the training and mindset shift that got him to Paris 2024 – and what he plans to do next