Minimum exercise

Press, 8 December 1988, Page 9

Minimum exercise

Q. I am a middle-aged man who has never done much exercising. Maybe now I am beginning to sense my own mortality, but I am thinking I ought to start exercising. What I want to know, frankly, is how little exercising can I do and still get the health benefits?

A. You asked a question for which there is no definite answer yet.

Ten years ago, the American College of Sports Medicine developed a set of standards. They suggested that a healthy adult do 15 to 60 minutes of rhythmic exercise using the large muscle groups, three to five times a week, at 60 to 90 per cent of maximum heart reserve.

That is what you might consider rather vigorous activity. And if you decide to undertake that level of activity, what can you expect to achieve? The guidelines were developed for achieving physical fitness. But no one knows yet if we have to be physically fit in order to be healthy. And researchers are not will-

ing to say whether 20 minutes of aerobic activity three times weekly is the optimal amount of exercise or the minimum amount necessary.

The American' College of Sports Medicine is working on some answers, though. They have been asked to form another committee to resolve these issues on exercise and health, and to come up with a second, less rigorous set of recommendations for more sedentary individuals who need to add exercise to their lifestyle. But that set of guidelines is probably several years away.

In the meantime, you might be interested to know about some research recently reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Doctors at the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota studied 12,000 middleaged men who were all at high risk for heart disease.

At the end of eight years, they concluded that just a moderate amount of

leisure time activity was enough to cut their risk of heart attack by one-third. Their activity was nothing more strenuous than walking, working around the house and yard, golfing, bowling, dancing, and similar recreational pastimes.

They also found that 45 minutes of such activity was just as effective in lowering risk as if they had spent several hours at it.

Dr Arthur Leon, Professor of Applied Physiology, who worked on the study, says he is greatly encouraged by the apparent beneficial effect of even a moderate amount of exercise.

There is one thing about which all of these professionals agree, however: some reasonable level of physical activity is necessary to maintain your good health. After talking it over with your physician, get started on some kind of exercise programme, even if it is a moderate, leisure-style regimen. As one of the researchers said, “what you don’t do could kill you.” — Copyright, Jazzercise.