After the age of seventy, it is not always easy to determine the minimum duration of physical activity to perform to stay in good health. Fortunately, two recent quality studies specify that eleven minutes a day of moderate activity, and five hundred additional steps are realistic and relevant objectives.
We tell you about it regularly, a sedentary lifestyle is one of the worst enemies of your health and your longevity. Walking is life! (LINK FILE works) Unfortunately, it is not always easy to navigate when you want to make good resolutions and decide on a daily routine to perform. Studies sometimes contradict each other or indicate unrealistic time limits for physical activity in people over seventy. Fortunately, two major recent studies confirm and specify what type and duration of physical activity to perform precisely to improve life expectancy and quality of life.
The minimum: eleven minutes of moderate activity per day
The first study, carried out by researchers at the University of Cambridge and published in the British Journal of Sports Medicineaffirm that 11 minutes a day (75 minutes per week)moderate-intensity physical activity are enough to start reduce the risk of heart diseaseTHE stroke and a number of cancerswhich are the leading cause of death worldwide.
To explore the amount of physical activity needed to have a beneficial impact on several chronic diseases and premature death, researchers from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge compiled studies comprising 196 articles covering more than 30 million participants evaluating the association between physical activity levels and the risk of heart disease, cancer and early death.
First, the researchers found that, regardless of our age, many of us fail to get the minimum amount of physical exercise needed to stay healthy, which is at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity per week. Outside of work-related physical activity, two in three people reported activity levels of less than 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity activity and less than one in ten managed to perform more than 300 minutes per week.
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The good news is that even if you only achieve half of the recommended weekly exercise, you already have a lot to gain! In fact, by accumulating 75 minutes per week of moderate-intensity activity (i.e. 11 minutes per day), you still reduce your risk of premature death by 23%your risk of developing cardiovascular disease is 17% and your risk of developing cancer is 7%.
Thus, as one of the study’s authors, Doctor Soren Brage, explains: If you find the idea of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week a little daunting, then our results are good news. Doing some physical activity is better than doing none. This is also a good starting position: if you find that 75 minutes per week is manageable, then you can try to gradually increase it to the full recommended amount. »
What is moderate-intensity physical activity?
Moderate-intensity physical activity increases your heart rate and makes you breathe faster, but you are still able to talk during the activity. This includes for example:
- brisk walking
- Dance
- The bike
- Tennis
- Hiking
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If each of us did this minimum of eleven minutes of moderate physical activity per day (for example, by cycling our work-home journeys or getting off a few bus stops to walk a short mile) 16% of early deaths would be avoided, 11% of cardiovascular diseases and 5% of cancers.
Ultra-sedentary: add 400 meters of daily walking
Often calculated to be valid in adult subjects, but not necessarily elderlysteps-per-day goals are sometimes difficult to achieve in older people. Most studies mention daily goals of 10,000 steps or more per day (i.e. more than six kilometres), which is sometimes difficult to achieve after the age of seventy.
This is the whole point of the second study published recently, which focuses more specifically on people over the age of seventy. The researchers followed for several years 452 participants aged 78 on average (and who measured their steps daily) and found that 12% of the participants walked less than 2,000 steps per day (a little more than 1 kilometer) and that only 3.5% of them took more than 4,500 steps per day (nearly 3 kilometres). However, the latter have a 77% lower observed risk of suffering a cardiovascular event than those taking less than 2,000 steps per day.
So, if you are very sedentary and only walk a little over a kilometer a day (i.e. 2,000 steps), add 400 meters of walking per day (i.e. 500 steps) and you will gain a 14% reduction in your risk of heart diseasestroke or heart failure.
In summary, practicing at least eleven minutes of moderate physical activity each day (brisk walking, dancing, cycling, playing with your grandchildren, etc.) and adding 400 meters of walking to your daily trips will allow you to extend your longevity, and especially your years of healthy life. To your sneakers!
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Under no circumstances is the information and advice offered on the Alternative Santé site likely to replace a consultation or a diagnosis formulated by a doctor or a health professional, who are the only ones able to adequately assess your state of health.