More Exercise Required to Live Longer!

 

You heard that right!  Recent research is overriding long standing exercise recommendations to optimize lifespan and prevent death.   Many are familiar with existing American Health Association Guidelines stating that you need to do 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of intense exercise per week to get the most benefits from exercise.

A new National Institutes of Health – funded, peer-reviewed published study look the self-reported activity of 100,000 adults over 30 years.

They found that those who exercised two to four times the 150-minute moderate exercise per week recommendation had a mortality reduction of 26% to 31% respectively.

Those who exercised two – four times the 75-minute intense exercise per week recommendation had a mortality reduction of 21% - 31% respectively.

Those who hit the current recommendation of 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week still saw a 20% mortality reduction.

Those who hit the current recommendation of 75 minutes per week of intense exercise per week had a 19% reduction in mortality risk.

The study concluded that the maximum benefit in mortality reduction occurs when doing between 150 – 300 minutes of intense exercise per week or between 300 – 600 minutes of moderate activity OR both!

Critically the study did NOT find any link to adverse cardiovascular health effects for those people who exercise more than four times the current recommendations for moderate and vigorous activity.

What does Moderate and Intense Exercise Mean?

Heart Rate – if you use a heart rate monitor moderate exercise can be defined as exercising between 50% - 70% of your Maximum Heart Rate for Moderate Exercise Intensity.     70% - 85% of your Maximum Heart Rate for Intense Exercise.  To determine your maximum heart rate and heart rate zones review this previous blogpost: http://workoutanytime.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-incredible-benefits-of-walking-and.html

Rate of Perceived Exertion for Moderate Exercise (how hard does it feel?)

1.     Your breathing accelerates but you are NOT out of Breath if not talking continuously.

2.     You start to sweat lightly after 10 minutes

3.     You can talk but NOT sing

Rate of Perceived Exertion for Intense Exercise (how hard does it feel?”)

1.     Your breathing is deep and rapid and hard to keep mouth closed and not breath through mouth.

2.     You develop a sweat after only a few minutes

3.     Hard to speak – cannot say more than a few words without pausing to breath.