IT has been reported that approximately 3.2 million people die each year from “physical stillness”.
You do not need to enlist a gym to perform a quality workout. You just have to slip out the door for a brisk walk with a pair of supportive, well-fitting shoes.
Walking is an exercise, which reinforced with a low-calorie diet, can help you lose weight. Many loathe to walk and come up with various reasons, although some may be valid, for not being physically on the go. Some say age has caught up and they feel they must rest. But the truth is that the feeling to rest is there because they are not physically active, and not due to age.
The more you do to stay active as you age, the lower your chances of having heart attacks and stroke. You can do physical activities in short spurts of 10 minutes each time instead of a lengthy 30-minute stretch.
Science has established that the elderly with serious health ailments, like heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis etc. can lead a better quality of life by getting up and moving.
Recent research by scientists who analysed physical activity and death data of 92,139 people in the UK published findings in the journal Nature Communications, stating that people who exercised between 11am and 5pm “maximised” the benefits of daily physical activity. The report concluded that “people whose activity level was elevated between 11am and 5pm lowered their risk of death from any cause more than people who exercised in the morning or evening”.
The benefits of midday exercise remained despite differences in people’s socio-economic status, lifestyle, pre-existing conditions, sleep habits or the amount of moderate to vigorous activities engaged in.
The benefits of midday activity were even more pronounced among older people, less active individuals, and those diagnosed with heart disease.
Midday exercise particularly can help prevent early death caused by heart disease. The researchers found that this could be because “cardiovascular events such as heart attacks are least likely to occur during the middle part of the day”.
The experts also added that “those just starting out should begin slowly with low-intensity exercises. Drink plenty of water, listen to your body, warm up before your workout and cool down after that”.
Your age, period of inactivity or how unfit you may be are irrelevant for the need to exercise as “exercise can provide lots of help for lots of things”. And midday exercise is the best for the most optimum results.
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