How Much Exercise is the Right Amount?
BLUF: Long distance won't kill us.
http://www.advisory.com/daily-brief...id=1743918
Two new studies are answering questions on the optimal frequency and rigor of exercise a person should get each week, Gretchen Reynolds writes in the New York Times' "Well" blog.
The first study was conducted by researchers from the National Cancer Institute, Harvard University, and other institutions. The study found that individuals who did not exercise at all had the highest risk of premature death. In addition, it found a:
- 20% reduction in premature death risk for those who did not meet exercise recommendations, but did some sort of exercise weekly;
- 31% reduction in premature death risk and increased longevity benefits for individuals who did the recommended 150 minutes per week of exercise; and
- 39% reduction in premature death risk for adults who tripled the recommended level of exercise by working out moderately—mostly walking—for 450 minutes per week, or slightly more than one hour per day.
Those individuals who exercised nearly 10 times the recommended amount per day saw about the same reduction in premature death risk as adults who met the recommended guidelines. However, this group did not increase its probability of dying young, which some previous research has suggested could be possible among adults who exercise too frequently.
According to the second study, individuals who met recommended guidelines significantly reduced their risk of early death—echoing the first study's findings. The authors also found that people who exercised vigorously on occasion gained a small reduction in mortality risk.
For instance, individuals who spent up to 30% of their weekly exercise time in vigorous activities were 9% less likely to die early than those who exercised the same amount at a moderate level. Individuals who spent more than 30% of their exercise time doing vigorous exercise had about a 13% reduction in premature mortality.
The study did not find any jump in mortality risk for those individuals completing the most strenuous exercise.
Comments
This is part of a long-running debate which features some science on both sides. There are some quite vocal cardiologists, including one who is a reformed marathoner, who insist that many years/decades of high volume and/or high intensity running leads to physical changes which increase the risk of death from sudden cardiac events. That is probably true. The same has been shown is a small sample size study of ironman triathletes. Nothing is risk free. We should also add that persistent involvement in cycling carries a higher risk of injury and death from trauma.
But the overall morbidity and age-related mortality for "people like us" is lower. IMO, we also get the benefit of increased self-esteem from our abilities and performance, as well as increased sense of well being from whatever chemical and/or neurological changes generated by intense and prolonged physical activity.
As reckless as it sounds, I do not spend time pondering how long I will live. For my n=1, the importance placed on duration of my life pails in comparison to the quality of my life and the impact my life has on my close circle of family and friends.
Probably not the right place to share my favourite Jack London quotation, but here goes anyway (I promise I am off my pulpit now)!
I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
For my n=1, the answer is most definitely not. In fact, emphatically not. All my life I've been engaging in extreme type activities of some type or another. Back in the 70's I took to rock and ice climbing; winter camping trips from 7 to 28 days long in the Adirondacks, jumping out of airplanes, etc. I realized even then there were no guarantees that tomorrow or next week would ever come and I lived in the moment until I married and became father when my priorities shifted to family. Once my son grew up I started to do more again beginning with class IV+ whitewater kayaking and running. Eventually I got the marathon bug and now Ironman and triathlon.
I also reflect on the losses in my life, something we all experience at some point. These were people who were very close that passed away far too early in their lives. My father was first. He died in '87 at the age of 63 from lung cancer (something I believe I will suffer at some point). He had only been retired for 5 years and never saw his dream home finished. My wife and unborn child died in '89 - she got chickenpox, developed varicella pneumonia and died at home. Then my sister died in '94 from a lifetime of drugs and/or alcohol. Now I am a the primary caregiver for my 85 year old mother. She is not dying, but is trapped in a failing body. Crippled with pain, blind from macular degeneration, has difficulty walking, can't hear, neuropathy in hands an feet, etc. So she can't see, walk or even feel the buttons on a TV remote or telephone. I absolutely do not want to be like that. Dying from a sudden cardiac event during a race seems a much better way to go.
In my mind, being 'here now' is the only way to be. Stay active, do cool shit, eat mostly real food, and enjoy the journey. It may last a day, a month or many decades. There is no way of knowing. None of my exercise or activity is for the purpose of living longer. It is about living and living better. I do not have a death wish and I tend to be very safety consious but I am not afraid to take risk doing the fun stuff that makes life worth living.
I end with a quote that has been a beacon in my life for more than 40 years ......
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” ~ Henry David Thoreau, Walden (1854)
I agree with Steve. Sometimes we ask questions and seek answers that don't really need to be pursued. If the medical community is looking for numbers that will "motivate" the unmotivated. Good luck with that. From personal, bedside, experience it doesn't work until life becomes very personal. Hopefully not too late for physical activity to help. The only ones who really find this stuff of value are insurance companies and the researchers. I think there was a thread earlier in the week about something along these lines.
I am on this journey to see what I can ring out of life. I meet people every week that I "really" do not want to be anything like. When i'm out running or biking and it sucks I think about my latest person I have meet who is 350+ pounds and can't walk. Or the 35 year old with their first MI. I also look at my beautiful child and think " what can I do to make me a valuable asset in her life?" Hence out the door I go. As long as people feel that the only control they have in their lives is food. We will never make a significant change in the inactivity level.
Here's my favorite quote about life; " Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "Holy Sh*t.....what a ride!"
@ Steve- I had no idea you had experienced so much in your young life. My condolences for the lose of the beautiful people you loved.
It wasn't all that long ago that exercise "science" was used to explain how running would shake up your internal organs, and that women were not physiologically suited for long distance...hence, the 3,000m was the longest event for women in the Olympics up to 1984. It's hard to believe!
Bottom line is they DON'T KNOW. Now I will go back to my ridiculous levels of exercise without any concern whatsoever what the quacks says about it.