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11.10.2016

Do intensive exercise instead of moderately intensive exercise and live longer

If you replace half an hour of sitting with half an hour of physical activity every day you'll live longer. Replacing half an hour of light physical activity with intensive activity has the same effect, German researchers wrote in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

Study
Epidemiologists at the university of Regensburg in Germany used data that had been gathered in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in the United States. The data covered 3702 men and women aged 50-85.

The participants had worn an accelerometer for a short period during the study which recorded the pattern of exercise and movement the subjects had. The participants were followed for roughly six years.

The researchers were able to calculate what happens if you replace half and hour of sitting with exercise. Or replacing half an hour of light physical exercise with something more intensive.

The researchers adjusted the results for the effects of bodyweight, age, sex, income, dietary pattern, illness, and unhealthy habits such as smoking.

Results
Replacing half an hour of sitting with half an hour of light physical exercise reduced total mortality risk and the mortality risk due to cardiovascular disease by several percentage points. Light physical activity includes activities that have no noticeable effect on your breathing.

That's positive of course. But replacing half an hour of sitting daily with half an hour of intensive exercise had even more effect. It halved the total mortality risk, and reduced the chance of death due to cardiovascular disease by two-thirds.

It's also worth replacing half an hour of light physical activity with more intensive forms of physical activity. That had almost as much effect on mortality as replacing sitting with intensive body exercise.

Conclusion
"Our results indicate that replacing 30 min of sedentary time with an equal amount of light or moderate to vigorous activity is associated with an intensity-graded reduced risk of mortality from any cause and mortality from cardiovascular disease", the researchers summarised.

"Moreover, an inverse association with mortality from any cause was identified for reallocating light activity to moderate to vigorous activity. Our observations suggest that mortality benefit may depend on the activity behaviors with which sedentary behavior is replaced."

Electrical bicycles are a useless invention.

Source:
Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2016 Jul;48(7):1312-9.

More:
Standing is healthier than sitting 02.07.2014
The less you sit, the older you'll get 21.04.2009

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