Exercise: It's free and good for your health

How much exercise do you need to be healthy?

A study by Queens University in Belfast found that brisk walking for 30 minutes three times a week reduced blood pressure and waist and hip measurements after 12 weeks.

Brisk walking for 30 minutes five times a week is even better, but this is a difficult target for most people to achieve, said the study authors. Three times a week is more realistic and confers similar benefits, they said.

So, some exercise is definitely better than none at all seems to be the despairing plea of most health-care experts. But to get real bang for your buck, exercise on most days of the week is the ideal, and it should include both cardiovascular workouts and resistance training.

Cardiovascular exercise is continuous, rhythmic exercise of moderate to high intensity, such as walking, running or swimming, while resistance training builds strength through lifting weights, or calisthenic exercises like pilates or yoga.

A new Canadian study has found that while diabetics benefit from either cardio workouts or resistance training, a combination of the two is the best of all.

Researchers at the University of Calgary in Alberta recruited 251 sedentary adults with type 2 diabetes aged 39 to 70 who did not exercise regularly.

One group did 45 minutes on treadmills and exercise bikes three times a week. Another spent the same amount of time on weights training. A third did 45 minutes of cardio and 45 minutes resistance training three times a week. The fourth group did nothing at all.

After six months, the researchers found that the combination group had better glycemic control than either of the other two exercise groups. The fourth, as expected, showed no improvement at all.

Of course, the third group also exercised twice as much and that could have something to do with how well they fared, said the authors. Still, they concluded, regular, fairly intensive exercise should be incorporated into every diabetic patient's treatment regime.

It's hard to argue with the numbers. How much should one exercise?

Three times a week at least, 30 to 45 minutes each time. And while cardiovascular workouts that get the heart going, or working with weights each has benefit, it's best to work the two into your exercise week.

You don't need to join a gym either, to get a workout, if you are intimidated by the prospect of exercising among athletic young men who all seem to be best buddies with the weight machines.
You can run, walk or cycle anywhere. Resistance training can be done at home using your own body weight, a couple of dumbbells, perhaps an exercise ball and and a fitness programme, which you can get out of a book or from the Internet.

Don't wait to get started. Exercise is free medicine.

- Source: by SHARON LOH of the "Mind Your Body" of Starits Times dated 26.9.2007