Exercise is an essential factor in a healthy life, but the challenges and luxuries of modern life make exercising a little tricky.
You’re too busy tackling challenges that you don’t have time for exercise and enjoying today’s luxuries at the expense of your self-discipline.
Either you are too busy or too lazy to find time to exercise. But this recent study found the minimum exercise needed for healthy living.
The largest ever meta-analysis for exercise
Researchers at the University of Cambridge Medical Research Council (MRC) conducted the largest systemic review of 196 peer review articles with over 30 million participants in 94 studies.
This meta-analysis allowed them to review all the studies that provided half-baked and often contradicting each other solutions.
In short, this is the most comprehensive analysis that can be found on physical movement and the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer.
They have come up with a nice solution that will make the exercise easy and accessible to all of us.
The least amount of physical activity you need
The NHS prescribes 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise each week.
But this meta-analysis concluded that 11 minutes of daily moderate-intensity exercise reduced the risk of premature death by 23%.
People who exercised more than 150 minutes a week had fewer additional benefits than those who exercised 75 minutes a week.
So if you’re in a fitness slump, focus on getting just 11 minutes of exercise daily.
You can save your life in 11 minutes every day
Small ripples create big effects. 11 minutes of non-work physical activity can actually save your life.
In just 11 minutes you can reduce the risk of premature death by 23%, cardiovascular disease by 17% and cancer by 7%.
You can even reduce the risk of certain cancers such as myeloid leukemia, myeloma and gastric cardia by 26%
Practice 11 minutes of mindful movement every day to improve your quality of life by significantly decreasing your risk of the two life-threatening chronic diseases.
The graph below represents the percentage of cases that can be reduced by 150/75 minutes of moderate exercise each week.
The percentage of cases that can be reduced by 150/75 minutes of moderate intensity exercise (MI) per week.
Moderation is the key
The exercise doesn’t have to be difficult. You will only be able to stick to an exercise routine if it is easy.
So, make exercise easy and redefine physical movement on your terms.
Moderate-intensity exercise gets your heart rate up and makes you breathe a little faster, but you’re still able to talk while exercising.
So, any activity that gets you active without detracting from your ability to speak is moderate exercise.
You need to start moderate-intensity exercise for 11 minutes a day. This simple time limit will help you form an exercise routine.
A simple mindset change for a healthier lifestyle
You need to make movement a regular part of your life, without it you won’t be able to get even 11 minutes of daily exercise.
We’ve always been an active species, so movement was the default mode. But modern society has turned the norm upside down.
Now sitting has become the norm, which kills millions of people every year. Then, you need to make motion your default state again.
You can get so many amazing benefits from exercise in just 11 minutes a day.
So, you need to find an exercise you like ASAP because that’s the only way to stick with it.
You must exercise daily for at least 11 minutes a day, it is the bare minimum you can do to live a healthy and long life.
You need to focus on moderate-intensity activities that can get your heart rate up. These are some fun examples of moderate intensity exercise.
- Take a brisk walk for 10 minutes a day.
- Dance with your friends
- A bike ride around the block.
- Play a friendly tennis match.
- Have a nice hike.
Gradually increase your time limit to 150 minutes each week once you get into the habit of exercising.
Khyati Jain is an editor and writer with backgrounds in health, fitness, lifestyle and mental health.
This article was originally published on Medium. Reprinted with permission from the author.
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