How Little Physical Activity Do You Really Need? The Ultimate Couch Potatoe's Guide to Health!

Author: Chantelle van der Merwe 

Registered Dietitian (SA) . PG Dip Diabetes Management (UK). Combining creativity and expertise to manage diabetes beter and practically. 

Hey, to the ultimate couch potatoes out there! Do you want to know how to stay healthy without breaking too much of a sweat? Well, you’re in luck, because I have some amazing news for you: You don’t need to exercise as much as you think!

According to some recent studies, you only need as little as 53.6 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week to improve your health and lower your risk of heart disease and cancer. That’s less than an hour of intense exercise per week! And it doesn’t matter what kind of exercise you do, as long as it gets your heart rate up and makes you breathe hard.

So, how can you squeeze in some vigorous physical activity in your busy schedule? Here are some easy and fun ways to do it:

• Run for 10 minutes every day. You can do it while listening to your favourite podcast, catching up on the latest gossip, or pretending you’re being chased by zombies.
• Join a HIIT class. These are short but intense workouts that will make you burn calories like crazy. You can find them online, at your local gym, or even on your phone. Just be prepared to sweat a lot and feel awesome afterwards.
• Dance like no one is watching. Put on some music and let loose for 15 minutes. You can do it alone, with a partner, or with your friends. Just make sure you don’t knock over any furniture or step on any toes.
• Play a sport that you enjoy. Whether it’s soccer, basketball, tennis, or something else, playing a sport can be a great way to get your heart pumping and have some fun. You can join a team, find a partner, or play solo. Just don’t forget to keep score and celebrate your wins.
• Do some household chores. Yes, you heard that right. Cleaning, gardening, mowing the lawn, and other chores can count as vigorous physical activity if you do them fast enough. Just don’t use any shortcuts or machines that do the work for you. And don’t forget to reward yourself with a treat afterwards.

These are just some examples of how you can achieve your minimum physical activity goals in a week. Of course, if you want to do more than the minimum, that’s great too! The more you exercise, the more benefits you’ll get. But if you’re looking for the least amount of effort for the most amount of reward, then these studies have some good news for you: A little vigorous activity can go a long way toward improving your health.

But before you get too excited and cancel your gym membership, we have to remind you that these studies are not the final word on exercise and health. These studies only show a link between exercise and health outcomes, not a cause and effect relationship. That means that there could be other factors that influence the results, such as genetics, diet, lifestyle, or even luck. So, don’t take these findings as gospel, but rather as a motivation to get moving.

So, what are you waiting for? Get off the couch and get moving! Even just a little :) You’ll be surprised by how much better you’ll feel with just a little bit of vigorous physical activity per week.
 
Reference:
Matthew N Ahmadi and others, Vigorous physical activity, incident heart disease, and cancer: how little is enough?, European Heart Journal, Volume 43, Issue 46, 7 December 2022, Pages 4801–4814, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehac572