If you’re like many people, you may have a love-hate relationship with exercise. You know it’s good for you, but sometimes it can be a struggle to motivate yourself to get moving. And when you do exercise, you may feel like you have to do a lot of it in order to see results. But new research suggests that it’s not how much exercise you do, but how often you do it that matters most.
A recent study published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise found that people who did short bursts of exercise throughout the day had better health outcomes than those who did longer, less frequent workouts. The study followed over 4,800 adults for six years and found that those who did at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week but spread out over multiple sessions, had a lower risk of death from any cause and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease than those who did the same amount of exercise in fewer, longer sessions.
This is good news for those who find it difficult to carve out large chunks of time for exercise. It means that you don’t have to spend hours at the gym every day in order to get the benefits of physical activity. Instead, you can break up your exercise into smaller, more manageable sessions throughout the day. For example, you could do a 10-minute walk in the morning, a 15-minute yoga session at lunchtime, and a 20-minute bike ride after work.
In addition to making exercise more accessible, this research also highlights the importance of consistency. It’s not just about doing a lot of exercise in one day and then taking the rest of the week off. Instead, it’s about making physical activity a regular part of your routine and incorporating it into your daily life. This can help to improve your overall health and fitness and make it easier to maintain your weight loss over time.
So, if you’re looking to improve your health and fitness, don’t feel like you have to do a lot of exercises all at once. Instead, focus on finding ways to incorporate physical activity into your daily routine, and aim for consistency. Short, frequent workouts can be just as effective as longer, less frequent ones, and they may be more sustainable in the long run.
