You and I both know the drill. We have to exercise regularly to fight aging, keep our metabolism humming along, and fight off everything from diabetes to heart disease.
Our bodies were built to move, after all. It’s just too bad our lives don’t always accommodate that need. Finding the time to exercise is tough. Plus, although exercise CAN be fun, let’s face it, that isn’t always the case. Especially when you have to commit to 30 minutes a day every day.
Whenever it’s possible, your daily exercise should be an activity you love. It doesn’t matter whether it’s dancing, swimming, golfing (without the cart), or something else entirely. As long as it keeps you moving for at least 20 minutes to half an hour, it fits the bill. And if you’re enjoying yourself, it won’t seem like work at all.
But some days, that kind of a workout just won’t fit into your schedule. And right now, with the pandemic, it’s even more of a challenge. This is why a series of recent studies showing that you don’t have to commit a tremendous amount of time to exercise to get big health benefits is so exciting.
Researchers say you can fit everything you need into a much shorter burst of movement. In fact, most of the studies point to somewhere between 10 and 12 minutes. That’s a commitment nearly ALL of us should be able to make.
Still battling the clock? One study found that you can enjoy at least one of the most important exercise benefits starting in as little as one minute.
Exercise benefits WITHOUT running yourself ragged
Most gyms do a brisk business around this time of year. People line up to commit to long and pricey membership contracts that they will hardly ever use after January.
But here’s the truth about exercise and your health. You don’t need to spend a penny. And you don’t need to run yourself ragged.
If you can spend just 12 minutes pedaling on an exercise bike, you may be able to reap all the major rewards of a long workout without a major commitment.
In a series of experiments, volunteers gave blood samples before and after these mini workouts. And in that short window of time, they had measurable changes to 80 percent of their metabolites.
Those changes even included ones that can have a direct impact on your disease risk.
- glutamate levels – linked to diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure – plunged by 29 percent
- dimethylguanidine valerate (DMGV) levels – linked to liver disease and diabetes – dropped by 18 percent
- significant improvements were seen in metabolites linked to insulin resistance, oxidative stress, and inflammation
In other words, just like with longer workouts, the mini exercise sessions appeared to produce changes that could help us live LONGER and BETTER. Which, let’s face it, is the goal of exercising in the first place.
1 minute to BETTER health with a mini workout
A second study uncovered something even more incredible. You can reap one BIG exercise benefit starting within as little as a MINUTE.
Now, if you’re a regular Healthier Talk reader, you may remember me explaining before what a lot of folks get wrong about exercise. And that is they sit all day long and then try to make up for it with a furious workout at the end of the day.
That approach just isn’t going to cut it. The bigger benefits go to folks who keep moving THROUGHOUT the day.
Because when you unseat your seat more often, you’re repeatedly stimulating your metabolism, increasing your circulation, and driving down levels of harmful substances in your body.
And the second study confirms it works. If you’re generally sedentary throughout the day, spending just one to two minutes moving every half an hour can lead to significant, life-saving benefits.
Every 30 minutes, the study volunteers got up to exercise and did one of two different activities…
- One minute of chair stands (check YouTube for examples)
- Two minutes of walking
Both activities improved insulin regulation after meals, which is a sign of good metabolic function. And an excellent start for anyone who is stuck sitting a lot during the day.
And this isn’t the first time we’ve seen a small exercise change like this pay off. In an earlier study two minutes spent moving for every hour sitting led to BIG benefits you’ve got to see to believe.
But don’t stop there. When you can’t fit in a longer workout, go ahead and commit to that 10 to 12 minutes of exercise, which the other studies pinpointed as providing major health benefits.
A brisk walk around the neighborhood or a spin on an old-fashioned exercise bike will do the trick. But it doesn’t really matter WHAT you do. Only that you do SOMETHING that gets you up and moving.
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