Why You Need To Double Your Exercise Now

New study says 30 minutes of exercise a day is not enough. You should double or quadruple that.

Do you remember always being told that little exercise is better than none and that 20 minutes a day is enough to improve your health and fitness? Well, prepare to have your mind blown. Surprising new research shows that 30 minutes of exercise a day is not enough and you should double or quadruple that. According to the experiment:

‘those following the 30-minutes-a-day guidelines issued by the American Heart Association had “modest reductions” in heart failure risk compared to those who did not work out at all. But those who exercised twice and four times as much had “a substantial risk reduction” of 20 percent and 35 percent, respectively. The findings challenge the notion of a 30-minutes-a-day magic number for exercise. Instead, research found that physical activity and heart failure may be what they called “dose dependent,” meaning that higher levels of physical activity appeared to be linked to a lower risk of heart failure’ (The Washington Post).

This finding implies that high intensity interval training may be much more beneficial to your cardiovascular health than steady pace cardio.

‘In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that one minute of vigorous activity is about the same as two minutes of moderate activity, so you can do a mix of the two each week. Vigorous aerobic activity is defined as a something that makes you breathe hard and fast and that pushes up your heart rate pretty high’(The Washington Post).

Try alternating moderate pace activities such as walking or light aerobics with high-intensity exercise such as interval training (a minute or 2 of very intense activity alternated with short rest) or running. Even though according to doctors: ‘walking 30 minutes a day, for instance, may not be enough for a middle-aged person with hypertension, which presents an increased risk of developing heart failure’, increasing your activity levels overall can contribute to your better health. Whether it’s just doing housework or pushing the lawnmower or hard workouts at the gym, try to make time and reap all the benefits you possibly can from your efforts. If you find this article helpful please share with your family and friends on social media now!