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The Least Amount of Exercise Needed To Extend Life

Posted by samzenpus on from the it's-up-to-you-whether-or-not-you-want-to-just-do-the-bare-minimum dept.

Toe, The writes "Of particular concern to couch potatoes, gamers, and anyone who spends an inordinate amount of time sitting and staring at a screen is how little exercise can I do and still receive a benefit. A new study entitled 'Minimum amount of physical activity for reduced mortality and extended life expectancy: a prospective cohort study' answers this important question. The conclusion: 92 minutes of moderate activity a week can extend your life by three years."

19 of 249 comments (clear)

  1. So I get three more years... by ifiwereasculptor · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...in which I'll have to exercise? Oh, let my sweet death come.

    1. Re:So I get three more years... by ari_j · · Score: 4, Informative

      Actually, it's a net gain. If you work out 92 minutes a week, 52 weeks a year, for 50 years, you have spent 166 days working out and gained over 6-1/2 times that much life. What the summary doesn't inform us is how long before you die you have to start this regimen in order to get the full 3-year benefit, which could easily make that ratio quite a lot higher. Best-case, you only work out a little under 10 days during the extra 3 years.

    2. Re:So I get three more years... by sh00z · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It gets better--following their math, 92 minutes a week gives a 14% reduction in mortality from all causes, and every additional 15 minutes gives an additional 4%. there's no point of diminishing returns identified. So, if you exercise 7 hours a week, you become immortal.

    3. Re:So I get three more years... by donutz · · Score: 4, Funny

      It gets better--following their math, 92 minutes a week gives a 14% reduction in mortality from all causes, and every additional 15 minutes gives an additional 4%. there's no point of diminishing returns identified. So, if you exercise 7 hours a week, you become immortal.

      On average. In reality, some people exercising 7 hours a week will live much longer than that, and some much shorter.

    4. Re:So I get three more years... by dingen · · Score: 2

      Actually, it's a net gain.

      It never feels like a gain in reality, because you only get more of your last years, which are crappy anyway. Having more of your middle years would be great, but alas, instead of having fun, you're now exercising during those times.

      --
      Pretty good is actually pretty bad.
    5. Re:So I get three more years... by drb226 · · Score: 2

      if you exercise 7 hours a week, you become immortal

      In reality, some people exercising 7 hours a week will live much longer than that

      Who are these people and can I have their autograph?

    6. Re:So I get three more years... by Sark666 · · Score: 2

      How do you only get more of your last years? You will be healthier in your middle years. I'm 41, I'm certainly not a top athlete, but I can run 20-30 minutes easily, I'm stronger than I have ever been with weight-training, look great and have lots of energy. Compared to my 40 something counter-parts, I look almost 10 years younger. Yes, genetics plays a big part as well, but if I never did any of this, I wouldn't like to imagine how I'd look and feel.

      Personally, I think sitting on your ass is a killer, but hey to each his own I guess.

  2. Love excercise by sakdoctor · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Good job I love exercise, so I don't have to go around calculating the bare minimum.

    1. Re:Love excercise by yurtinus · · Score: 3, Funny

      Bad nerd, get back in the basement and stop talking nonsense.

      --
      +1 Disagree
  3. So what we want to know is.... by TheEmpyrean · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ... does masturbation count? Because I'm going to live forever at this point.

    1. Re:So what we want to know is.... by witherstaff · · Score: 2

      How long before we can submit escort services as medical expenses?

  4. Let me get this right by Anon-Admin · · Score: 2

    If I exercise for 92 min a week for the next 38 years I get to live an extra 3 years.

    So if I total it up, I am doing 3.32 days of exercise a year to gain 25 days of life expectancy. Ok, so it seems like a deal.

    Though I could just spend those 3.3 days playing the latest game, much more enjoyable and loosing 3 years is not that big of a deal.

    1. Re:Let me get this right by metlin · · Score: 3, Interesting

      As someone who works out on a regular basis (an hour or two on most days), I will let you in on a little secret: working out is fun.

      Sure, when you first get started, it feels tedious. Pointless, even. But once you start seeing the changes in your body, it becomes addictive.

      For instance, most days, I can't wait to get done with work and hit the gym. Ever heard of the runner's high? Working out makes you feel great when you're done with it -- you feel euphoria when you're working out, and a feeling of accomplishment when you're done with it. But the trick is to keep at it.

      In the short term, you'll feel more awake, sleep better (deeper REM sleep), and eat better (seriously, once I started working out regularly, I just started craving a wider variety of food than I'd usually eat -- more vegetables and protein, less carbs).

      After a few months, you will see serious physical changes in your body that, if not anything else, helps with your vanity. :-) Plus, there's nothing quite like having a girl check you out -- it's a great feeling. As my wife is wont to say, there's nothing that women like more than a buff geek. Beauty and the brains -- can't beat that.

      You can do it for any number of reasons, but you will eventually get to a point when you'll be doing it because it is fun. Once you get there, you'll look back and wonder why you didn't do it all these years. Trust me, it's worth it.

    2. Re:Let me get this right by baka_toroi · · Score: 2

      You know, I went to the gym for like a year and it was great, I felt better than I do know. The catch is that I used to go with a friend. At this point in my life I don't really have a friend that could adapt to my schedule and I tried working out on my own: it was awfully boring, incredibly boring.

      So now I'm not excercising at all because I *know* it will be boring. Any piece of advice to share?

    3. Re:Let me get this right by metlin · · Score: 2

      Can you find an activity or a sport you could participate in? A softball league or an ultimate frisbee league? Or a pick up game of soccer? Otherwise, there's always Craigslist! :-)

      As someone who is always on the road, I often have this problem, but it's usually easier to find people to do activities with when you're playing a sport (no matter how bad you are at it).

      The other thing is to take up an interesting and new hobby (e.g. I've been thinking of doing boxing for fun, just every Saturday for an hour). Even if it's one day a week, I know there will be someone at the ring, and it helps you get into a groove. As you start doing better, you will start participating in activities to support your performance in the sport (e.g. when I used to play soccer or tennis, I would run regularly; with boxing, I'm hoping to start lifting more).

      Also, I'm not sure how feasible this is, but we've a dog -- my wife enjoys running with the dog because it's good company, and it's a lot of fun.

  5. Remember, nay sayers, by roc97007 · · Score: 2

    ...That's 3 more years in which you can defend your high score.

    --
    Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
  6. 20 miles equivalent of cardio by peter303 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I've heard this expressed in terms of weekly calories expended in heart-raising exercise, i.e 2000. Walking, running, biking (3x miles), etc. doesnt matter so much as long that many calories are burned. Neither whether its compressed into a couple of long sessions or divided into many ten-minute mini-sessions. In fact it recommended to choose the most pleasant form of cardio to you so can you can continue to do to for 50 or 70 more years.

    This data comes from the "grandfather" of the exercise boom Dr. Kenneth Cooper. He wrote a book called Aerobics in 1968 promoting endurance exercise over the then-popular calesthetics. He ignited the running boom by putting the on top of his 60-point-week exercise classification system. Running gets you there in the shortest time.

    Above 2000 exercise calories a week the situation gets murkier. You get additional, but diminishing longevity results up to about 5000 calories (50 miles walking/running). After that the main effect is improve sports performance, not longevity. Dr. Ken even claims that too much exercise may create more oxidative waste than the body can eliminate and then decrease longevity. But this is a minority opinion and irritates the ultra people.

  7. Only exercise 92 min/wk ... by gstrickler · · Score: 2

    ... unless you're enjoying the exercise, or are rich enough to retire. Here's why: Assume you spend 8+ hours per day sleeping, eating, and bathing, and work 40 hours a week (plus travel to/from work). There are 8760 hours per year, of that at least 2,920 hours are sleeping, eating & bathing. Working 40hr/s & 50 weeks (2 weeks vacation) = 2,000 hours. So, at best, you net 3,840 hours/yr, and realistically, closer to 2,500-3,000. Then you spend time shopping, doing housework, being sick, etc.

    • 92 minutes per week gives you an average of an extra 3 years of life. That's ~80 hrs per year for ~75 years = ~ 6,000 hours exercising. In return, you get 3 years extra life. So, 3 yrs will give you 7500 - 11,500 hours of additional free time. That gains you something, but it's not huge.
    • Spending an extra hour a week exercising to get to 150min/week, means spending an extra 52 hrs/yr * 79yrs (75 + 4 extra) means you'll spend 4,180 extra hours exercising to gain just one additional year, which I've already established nets you at most 3,840 hrs (less in reality), which is a net loss of free time.

    So, if you're enjoying the extra exercise, or you can afford to retire, then that extra hour per week might be worth it, but if not, put in your 92 minutes and call it good. Remember, you read it hear first.

    --
    make imaginary.friends COUNT=100 VISIBLE=false
  8. You don't become less active when you get old... by MetalliQaZ · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...you get old when you become less active.

    Statements like that quoted in the summary are pure silliness. On average, exercise will tend to extend life expectancy, but that is certainly not the whole story. Plenty of exercise, proper nutrition, and stimulating thought will improve quality of life for many years leading up to death. Those years are the time to enjoy the life you have.

    --
    "Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit"