I have heard of and even seen peope make big changes to their body and health with only 15, 30, or 60 minutes of exercise a day. It doesn’t even seem like much.
Whether it’s cardio or lifting weights, why do people only need that much time a day to improve? In fact, why does MORE time with exercise (like 3 hours or more) even seem harmful?
I know diet plays a big role but still. Like I started strength training for only 15 minutes a day and I see some changes in my body physically.
In: Biology
This happened to me story, take it for what it’s worth: Baseline is 71 years old, 6 feet tall , 220 lbs.
Been doing cardio every day for years (biking 15 miles alternate days, fast walking 3 miles alternate days, yard work on Sundays (but mostly laying on the couch watching Netflix on Sundays, but hey, killing it 6 days, right? I’m retired so not doing much of anything else (quality time on Reddit, video games, movies, whatever chores wife wants, etc). My cholesterol is always high, not insane, but not good either, glucose always high, on the verge of pre-diabetic, BP always trending high-ish. Year in year out, inching up slowly so not a good trend. Six months ago my wife decides we need a dog, we get a giant chihuahua from the shelter.
Now, doing one mile sniffari walk in the morning, same thing other direction in the evening. No more bike work, no fast walks, just two slow miles every day. Oh, and play some catch in the backyard with a squeeky ball 15-20 minutes three times a day, maybe some tug of war 10 minutes with the rope once or twice a day. Nothing formal, nothing strenuous, but no exceptions allowed, the dog won’t tolerate being ignored (worse than kids, really).
Last physical was two weeks ago, my cholesterol and sugar numbers looked like they fell off a cliff. No high, no slightly high, no high normal, but dead center optimal, in the green. Doc says WTF? I dunno maybe the dog? Doc says dogs can do that. See you in six months, take care of the dog, she’s saving your life.
My take away is it isn’t the intensity of the workout, it’s the constant movement. And dog for the win.
YMMV
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