Vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity (VILPA) could significantly reduce risk of heart disease and cancer mortality
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(Image credit: Getty Images)
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Researchers observed over 25,000 ‘non-exercisers’ (mean age 61.8 years, 14,178 women/11,063 men) for an average of 6.9 years to find that brief bursts of vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity (VILPA) were associated with 38%-40% reduction in all-cause and cancer mortality risk and a 48%-49% reduction in CVD mortality risk.
“Moreover, the sample median VILPA duration of 4.4 min per day was associated with a 26%-30% reduction in all-cause and cancer mortality risk and a 32%-34% reduction in CVD mortality risk”, the study adds, meaning that only four sessions of one minute-long exercise sessions are enough to help you potentially live longer And we thought HIIT was the most time efficient workout mode to improve cardiovascular fitness.
Running after the bus can help you live longer(Image credit: Getty images)
Running after the bus can help you live longer
Running after the bus can help you live longer
(Image credit: Getty images)
VILPA can be any activity that elevates the heart rate, such as running up the stairs or brisk walking to catch the train. “Upping the intensity of daily activities requires no time commitment, no preparation, no club memberships, no special skills”, Emmanuel Stamatakis, lead author of the paper and Professor of Physical Activity, Lifestyle and Population Health at the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre,told ScienceDaily, “It simply involves stepping up the pace while walking or doing the housework with a bit more energy.”
Interestingly, researchers used wearable data to “capture unexplored movement patterns”, the paper says. Thebest Fitbitsand many of thebest fitness trackersare famous for monitoring and recording said movement patterns, even if users don’t log them as workouts; Fitbit’s Active Zone Minutes feature is built around this concept.
We’d recommend exercising for longer if you want to lose weight or build muscle; however, four minutes a day might be enough to prolong your life, and we hope that even lazy people agree that doesn’t sound like too much effort for a lot of gains. You can read the research paper titled “Association of wearable device-measured vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity with mortality"here.
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