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Hombre_Corriendo wrote:Sure, 35 minutes a week is a little better than nothing, but I don't believe it's near enough to ensure optimal health, and certainly not enough for someone who wants to lose weight and/or increase their stamina.
True! Nonetheless that statement of truth does not negate the minimal benefits that it actually does provide. In that regard, a minor health benefit is better than no benefit at all.
The vast majority of people who exercise are NOT doing so to obtain maximum benefit. They are pleased with even a small benefit. The goal of getting maximum benefit is for the hard core folks, who show up at the gym even at 5PM on Saturday night. Let me tell you, there are usually not many of us there on party nite.
Last edited by CosmicWizard; 07-31-2014 at 01:27 PM..
I know the general theme of the article (something is better than nothing).
And for those that exercise and have become used to (or addicted to) doing 1-2 hours of exercise per day such as running 13 miles, 5 minutes a day seems like a joke.
However, you can do some amazing things running only 5 minutes. I'm sure people have heard of intervals and tabatas, those have been the rage the past years.
Break up the 5 minutes into doing sprints. 20 seconds hard all out sprint, rest 10 seconds, repeat until 5 minutes is up. Or some combination thereof. Guarantee you'll be sucking wind after one sprint.
Of course some can't physically do this but you get the picture.
Five minutes a day is also good for someone who can not do very much running, for whatever reason, and can maybe incorporate that into an overall fitness program that includes other exercises. This is not about some 'optimal' amount.... it's about lite running with benefits.
Location: The High Desert of the American Southwest
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Suburban_Guy
I know the general theme of the article (something is better than nothing).
And for those that exercise and have become used to (or addicted to) doing 1-2 hours of exercise per day such as running 13 miles, 5 minutes a day seems like a joke.
However, you can do some amazing things running only 5 minutes. I'm sure people have heard of intervals and tabatas, those have been the rage the past years.
Break up the 5 minutes into doing sprints. 20 seconds hard all out sprint, rest 10 seconds, repeat until 5 minutes is up. Or some combination thereof. Guarantee you'll be sucking wind after one sprint.
Of course some can't physically do this but you get the picture.
I see where you're going with this: trying to formulate a routine that totally maximizes the five minutes, but still, I have to stick to my original guns here--five minutes no matter how you cut it just ain't enough.
Sprints and interval training, or what us runners call speedwork, are an important part of a training program, but we're usually talking something along the lines of 800 yds. sprint---100 yd. walk---repeat 10X. And interval training is simply incorporated as ONE part of the usual 3-tier program done weekly: a long slow run; a "tempo" run (about 2/3 of your top speed, done for around half and hour; and THEN the speedwork.
I advise: anyone thinking of doing SubGuy's five-minute sprint deal should rethink: find an extra 10 mins' in your sked (come on, man: you can do it!! LOL) and do a 15 minute jog, swim, or cycling. Do this twice a week and then the 5-minute sprint twice a week and you WILL see some marked improvement in your stamina and might even be able to lose about 6-8 lbs. a month if you keep your diet clean.
Stop listening to the lazy part of your brain. Just run harder. I started out slow and ended up with a 5:30 mile by the end of high school. That was considered mediocre on my track team.
Interval training is done for speed and tempo runs for endurance. Those take at least 30 minutes per day even for high-intensity workouts.
Samantha, I think you are confusing the 'conclusions' that first came out in 2012, which have since changed after it was peer reviewed.
From Runner's World article:
An important abstract presented at the 2012 annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine attracted a lot of attention because it added fuel to the “excessive endurance exercise” hypothesis that was gathering steam at that time. Now the paper has appeared in its full-text, peer-reviewed form in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, and it’s, well, quite different.
The new paper is receiving wide coverage and being heralded as a landmark study on the benefits of running. It concludes: “Running, even 5-10 minutes a day, at slow speeds, even slower than 6 miles per hour [10:00 minute pace], is associated with markedly reduced risks of death from all causes and cardiovascular disease.”
and also from Runner's World:
“Running may be a better exercise option than more moderate intensity exercise since it produces similar, if not greater, mortality benefits in 5 to 10 minutes compared to 15 to 20 minutes of moderate intensity activity.”
What this study does is lower the bar down to 5-10 minutes to gain some benefits. It may not be 'optimal,' but for those that can only do that much there will be benefits.
The question that begs asking is - why do we run?
We do it to oxygenate our blood, to raise our heart rate enough to strengthen the organ, and to tone our muscles and connective tissue. And it makes us feel good.
So, why not do half an hour of vigorous cardio and strength exercises from a combo of lying and sitting positions? That's what I do, as I'm in a wheelchair and couldn't run to save my life! My blood chemistry is excellent, as is my BP, pulse, cholesterol levels, etc. I'm 59 and all I do is roll off my medical ROHO medical cushions (which I need to keep me from screaming in pain) onto my husband's side of the bed (after he's gotten up, of course ) and do 100 leg raises, 100 half-leg raises, 200 ankle turns (I do more of those intermittently throughout the day as well), and a hundred each of a few more target-specific exercises. I sit on the edge of the bed to do my upper body cardio and strength exercises, and all of my docs say that I'm in perfect shape (my injuries notwithstanding). I'm stronger than my physiotherapist, who can't hold me down - and he's in tip-top shape and is the senior physiotherapist for Canada's Olympic swim team. That makes me feel good!
It's helpful, I think (I hope), for those who cannot run, jump, hop, skip, or do anything of that nature to know that a little does indeed go a long way.
My paternal grandmother didn't arise from her chair unless she had to, and she lived to nearly ninety. Her brother, my great-uncle, was bedridden for at least twenty years (I don't know precisely now long, but it was as least that) and he lived to age 99.
Conversely, my maternal grandmother lived to just shy of her 99th birthday, and she walked briskly for an hour a day and ate like a bird since she was 55. (Prior to that she was a self-confessed fatty! She loved chocolates and ate them as if they were going out of style.)
Bottom line: It's never too late to get into good shape. Just do the best you can with what you've got and don't worry about the rest. Worry puts more people into early graves than just about anything else.
'The happiest heart that ever beat
Was in some quiet breast
That found the common daylight sweet
And left to Heaven the rest.'
I believe there's wisdom in that little poem. (I don't know who wrote it; sorry.)
Ahhh yes, Yahoo - the cornerstone of great advice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dapeaz
It's second in bad Q&A only to Wikianswers.
I love all these reports claiming regular yet minimal exercise will do a body good. I'm going to assume that anyone who would consider the minimum doesn't want to be active to begin with. You either do or you don't.
The Yahoo article is referencing a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Yahoo is just the messenger, and that doesn't make the study any less credible.
I see where you're going with this: trying to formulate a routine that totally maximizes the five minutes, but still, I have to stick to my original guns here--five minutes no matter how you cut it just ain't enough.
Sprints and interval training, or what us runners call speedwork, are an important part of a training program, but we're usually talking something along the lines of 800 yds. sprint---100 yd. walk---repeat 10X. And interval training is simply incorporated as ONE part of the usual 3-tier program done weekly: a long slow run; a "tempo" run (about 2/3 of your top speed, done for around half and hour; and THEN the speedwork.
I advise: anyone thinking of doing SubGuy's five-minute sprint deal should rethink: find an extra 10 mins' in your sked (come on, man: you can do it!! LOL) and do a 15 minute jog, swim, or cycling. Do this twice a week and then the 5-minute sprint twice a week and you WILL see some marked improvement in your stamina and might even be able to lose about 6-8 lbs. a month if you keep your diet clean.
Drink lots of water!!
You're missing the point here. The study didn't conclude that five minutes of running per day will get you into great shape or make you fast or make you lose weight, etc. It claimed that five minutes of running will reduce your risk of mortality.
No, "risk of mortality" is the correct phrase because it refers to one's risk of dying in a given time period, typically a year.
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) and do 100 leg raises, 100 half-leg raises, 200 ankle turns (I do more of those intermittently throughout the day as well), and a hundred each of a few more target-specific exercises. I sit on the edge of the bed to do my upper body cardio and strength exercises, and all of my docs say that I'm in perfect shape (my injuries notwithstanding). I'm stronger than my physiotherapist, who can't hold me down - and he's in tip-top shape and is the senior physiotherapist for Canada's Olympic swim team. That makes me feel good! 
