How much exercise to be healthy

How many hours per week do you need to exercise

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that adults include at least 75 minutes of vigorous exercise or 150 minutes of quieter activity per week. Here are some examples of suitable activities.

Working with medium intensity (with a pulse rate of 90-110 beats per minute): brisk walking, dancing, gardening and housework, picking up mushrooms and berries, active games with children and pets, repairs, carrying things less than 20 kg.
High-intensity activities (with a heart rate of 120 beats per minute): running, walking uphill, brisk cycling, aerobics, fast swimming, competitive sports and team games (football, volleyball, basketball and others), excavating the ground, carrying things heavier than 20 kg …

At the same time, WHO notes that this is a necessary minimum. For additional health benefits, you need to exercise more: 300 minutes at medium intensity and 150 minutes at high intensity. About the same amount is needed to maintain the elasticity of the large central arteries until old age.

Scientists tested how physical activity affects mortality from any cause, and found a clear pattern: 75 minutes of exercise per week reduces the overall risk of death by 20%, 150 minutes - by 31%, and 150-255 minutes - by 37%. But the biggest benefits come from 225 to 375 minutes (3 hours 45 minutes - 6 hours 25 minutes) per week. Under such loads, the risk of death is reduced by a record 39%.

To get the most out of it, exercise for 2.5 to 6.5 hours per week. The bigger, the better.

How exercise helps you stay healthy

Regular exercise induces a number of positive changes in the body and protects you from dangerous diseases. This is exactly what training gives you.

1. Reduce weight

Exercise will help you shed excess fat and maintain a healthy weight, which is one of the main conditions for health. Excess fat stores, especially in the waist area, have metabolic activity: they release hormones and can increase inflammation in the body.

Obesity increases the risk of diabetes, kidney and gall bladder, heart and blood vessel diseases, cancer and death from any cause.

Ideally, you should add proper nutrition to your workouts, but activity itself will help you burn more calories and keep your weight within normal limits.

2. Improve the work of the cardiovascular system

Exercise reduces the amount of "bad" cholesterol that can form plaque on the walls of blood vessels. They also improve insulin sensitivity, which has a positive effect on cardiovascular health.

Moreover, the longer and more regularly you exercise, the greater the benefit. Continuous exercise throughout life helps maintain vascular elasticity and heart health in old age.

3. Reduce the risk of cancer

An analysis of 12 studies showed that exercise reduced the risk of leukemia, cancer of the esophagus, liver, lungs, kidneys, stomach and uterus by more than 20%. And 10-20% - myeloma, colon, head and neck, rectum, bladder and breast cancers.

Scientists suggest that exercise protects against cancer by reducing weight and inflammation in the body, normalizing hormonal levels, boosting immunity, and speeding up the transit of food in the gastrointestinal tract.

4. Supports mental health

Exercise can help combat depression, stress, and emotional problems. On average, physically active people experience negative mental effects 1.5 times less often than those who do not exercise.

Team sports, cycling, aerobic exercise, and a gym workout are best.

Those who exercise 3-5 days a week for 30-60 minutes feel better than less or more active people. Conversely, exercising more than 23 times a month and more than 90 minutes at a time has a negative impact on mental health. Therefore, everything is good in moderation.

How to exercise for maximum benefit

Any workout is suitable for health, during which your heart rate rises above 120 beats per minute and you breathe and sweat faster.

This can be running, swimming, cycling, skiing, team sports, martial arts, dancing, group fitness programs, hiking - whatever. The necessary load can be obtained even without leaving home, performing complexes of simple exercises with their own weight for 20-30 minutes.

If you're short on time for exercise, try high-intensity interval training. They are as effective for weight loss and heart and vascular health as regular cardio, but take much less time.

It is also advisable to do strength exercises for all muscle groups at least twice a week. By adding a workout like this, you:

Prevent muscle loss … During weight loss, illness with bed rest, and even just over the years, you begin to lose muscle. Strength training helps maintain and increase muscle mass at any age.
Boost your metabolism … The more muscle mass you have, the more energy is required to maintain it. By increasing the amount of muscle, you will burn more calories even at rest, which means it will be easier for you to maintain a healthy weight.
Increase the benefits for the heart and blood vessels even more … It has always been believed that running, cycling, and other aerobic activities are better for the cardiovascular system, but recent research has shown that strength training reduces the risk of heart disease as well as aerobic activity. Scientists noted that it is best to combine these activities.

You can load muscles in the gym or at home, using only your body weight, horizontal bar and parallel bars.