fitness
This is what happens to your body when you exercise for 11 minutes a day
Even eleven minutes of exercise a day can do a lot for your health.
© simona / Adobe Stock
Just a little exercise a day is enough to significantly reduce the risk of a variety of diseases.
Everyone probably knows the importance of fitness in our everyday lives – at least in theory. Exercise, sport and a healthy and varied diet can make an important contribution to a long life.
But in practice, training is unfortunately a completely different matter: especially for people for whom sport is not already an integral part of their everyday life, the idea of a workout after a long, strenuous day seems anything but seductive. When it comes to fitness, many people instinctively think of studios, extensive workouts or long jogging routes. One Study has now provided proof: This doesn’t have to be the case at all. Just eleven minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day can reduce the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease or premature death.
Study shows: A few minutes a day have a big impact on our health
The fact that people who exercise regularly have a lower risk of suffering from certain physical illnesses has been well proven by various studies. However, it was more difficult to prove how much the extent of physical exercise affects the risk of illness. And this is exactly where a current study came in, which evaluated 196 other studies with a total of more than 30 million adult participants who were followed for over ten years.
The focus here was on people who completed the recommended minimum amount of 150 minutes of exercise per week (which corresponds to around 22 minutes a day). For example, these people had a 29 percent lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease or a 27 percent lower risk of even developing such an illness. But even half the time spent had considerable value, as the researchers found: 75 minutes of exercise per week (around eleven minutes daily) was enough to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by 17 percent and for one Reduce cancer incidence by seven percent.
“If you are someone who is daunted by the idea of 150 minutes of physical activity per week, then our results should be good news for you,” says study author Dr. Soren Brage in a press release. “This is also a good starting point – if you find that 75 minutes per week is manageable, you can try gradually increasing it to the full recommended amount.” True to the motto: A certain amount of exercise is always better than no amount of exercise at all.
What activities could these be?
Eleven minutes is a manageable minimum amount of exercise per day – but how can this time be filled? The good thing is: there are no limits to your creativity! Even going for a walk every day has a positive impact on your fitness – maybe you can integrate one or two walks into your everyday life? For some, running, jogging or cycling are a sensible alternative to getting to work: instead of taking the bus or train, you can also hop on a bike. If you want to combine exercise with a fun hobby, you can sign up for a dance class or go swimming every day.
Note: According to the study, just eleven minutes of “moderate to vigorous” exercise a day is enough. How can you tell whether you are currently doing moderate or intensive exercise? If you can talk but can’t sing while moving, it’s more likely to be a moderate intensity exercise – high intensity means you can no longer hold a conversation. Accordingly, “moderate exercise” is equivalent to taking a walk.
Sources used: health.com, bjsm.bmj.com, edition.cnn.com