15 minutes of physical activity a day, in addition to regular activities, can have a positive effect on the health of the whole body. Tested by scientists at the University of South Australia on 11,575 employees from work teams in 73 health, education, internet technology and financial companies in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
The participants were the same employees who were literally used to working too long at work. In addition, as part of the health experiment, tasks were assigned in a playful and competitive form to motivate employees to get up from their office chairs and take a useful and exciting break.
In addition, you can choose exercises according to your preferences. For example, it could be walking, running, cycling or the simplest – squats and push-ups in the office. And a special application on the phone made it possible to share achievements with colleagues.
WHAT HAPPENED?
– Participants’ average daily physical activity level increased by 12 minutes per day (up to 85 minutes per week) over the course of the six-week experiment.
– Office athletes also reported improved fitness levels (14%), increased energy levels (12%), overall health (8%), improved sleep quality (8%) and improved mood (7.1%).
– Regular physical activity provides significant benefits for physical and mental health. It plays a key role in preventing and treating chronic diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer, and also reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety, says lead study author Professor Ben Singh, a specialist in neuromuscular physiology and fatigue.
15 minutes of activity a day is an affordable starting point, especially for sedentary people.
This reduces psychological barriers to starting exercise and helps develop the habit of regular physical exercise, says the author of the project.
WHAT HELPED PEOPLE GET INVOLVED?
– Team spirit, the awareness that “I am not alone in this race.” That is why it is better to start a good business with like-minded people.
– Joint monitoring of results, although individual work, teamwork.
– Celebrate your achievements in the team.
WHAT SHOULD A BEGINNER PAY ATTENTION TO?
The Ministry of Health recommends:
1. Loads should be increased gradually. One step is no more than one-tenth of the load increase per week. That is, 10% of the load you started your training with at the beginning of the week can be added evenly spread over the days until the end of the week. This way the body has time to adapt, get used to and benefit from the activities.
2. The principle of progress. Without adequate rest and recovery, no training will be beneficial.
3. The principle of regularity. Without regular exercise focused on our personal progress, we will not introduce a new useful habit into our daily life and there is a risk of regressing (losing the training acquired).
4. You should start with aerobic exercise aimed at working the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, and then move on to exercise on individual muscle groups.
REMEMBER
WHO recommends that adults (18–64 years) do at least 150–300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity or at least 75–150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity per week.
Aerobic activities include:
– walking,
– run,
– swim,
– cycling,
– tennis,
– basketball.
The muscular activity of the whole body, active breathing, oxygen saturation of blood and internal organs are important here.
Whatever you do, watch your pulse. It should not exceed 130 beats per minute.
– You can start with regular exercise. This healthy habit will lead to better physical fitness and health, because everything regular and especially physiological reduces stress and inflammation. The body lives comfortably when it can adapt to regular events, notes endocrinologist, doctor of medical sciences and senior researcher at the Faculty of Fundamental Medicine Zuhra Pavlova on her Telegram channel. – The most useful exercises for a person are walking and swimming. You can walk on the street, in the gym on a treadmill or carefully on an elliptical machine.
