Woman running.Photo: Getty
Chasing after toddlers or running to catch the bus can prolong your life,a new studysays.
Three minutes of strenuous activity as you go about your day is linked to a 40 percent lower risk of premature death in adults, even if they do not work out otherwise.
“If we’re honest, most people are allergic to the word ‘exercise,'” Emmanuel Stamatakis, a professor of physical activity and health studies at the University of Sydney in Australia, who led the new study, toldThe Washington Post.
To reach their conclusion, researchers used data from 25,000 British men and women, age 40-69, after they joined the UK Biobank, and wore an activity monitor to track their movement. Participants reported they never exercised.
Next, scientists analyzed their data based on step rapidity, for three months, so every time a person ran for a train, or vacuumed with vigor, these physical spurts were saved, even if they lasted under a minute.
Scientists compared activity guides with seven years’ worth of death records, and found those who averaged 4.4 minutes a day of “vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity” were 30% less likely to die than those who seldom moved quickly.
It also helped to separate these bursts of energy.
The mortality risk dropped to 40% compared to those who never tried to go fast, if they did it three times per day.
Worth noting: When Biobank followed 62,000 men and women who exercised at a regular pace to increase their speed, their risk of premature death decreased compared to the slow walkers out there. “There is something about intensity,” Stamatakis toldThe Washington Post.
Stamatakis toldThe Washington Posthe encourages others to move hard and fast enough that it feels impossible to chat, and to reach that level of breathlessness 3-4 times per day, for 1-2 minutes, while going about your daily routine.
Keep in mind that the study only shows the relationship between speed and life span, and doesn’t reveal why vigor makes a difference, Stamatakis toldThe Post.
Since completing the study, Stamatakis toldTime, “I’vegiven up elevatorsaltogether.”
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source: people.com
