Exercise need not be intense to prolong lives of elderly, study suggests
Workouts don’t need to be long or strenuous to deliver improved health and a reduced risk of dying, study suggests; all activities, no matter how modest – such as pottering about in the garden – deliver benefits, research indicates
A few hours a week of light exercise – walking the dog, pottering about in the garden – lower the risk of death in older men, even if workouts are brief, researchers say.
Their findings, reported this week in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, challenge two long-held assumptions about the benefits of physical activity for the elderly.
To improve health and reduce the risk of dying, according to many national health authorities, workouts must be strenuous and more long-lasting.
In Britain, for example, the elderly are advised to do at least 150 minutes of moderate to intense exercise per week, divided up into segments of no less than 10 minutes.
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“UK and US physical activity guidelines don’t mention any benefits of light activity,” said lead author Barbara Jefferis, an epidemiologist at University College London.
