While you do need to get moving to boost your health and lose weight, you don’t necessarily need to push yourself too hard to get good exercise. A new study shows that people who exercise at a slower rate for longer periods of time tend to burn more calories than other people who work out at a faster rate do.
According to the researchers, the truth is that people who go out and do a short, high-intensity workout are spending more time on the couch. Other exercisers are spending more time doing activities that burn calories. The study followed 30 participants (both men and women) for two weeks. The researchers measured body movement and timed the participants’ exercise sessions.
Overall, the researchers found that people doing more low- to moderate-level activities such as biking and walking burned more calories and had a higher estimated activity level. Those who liked to do short bursts of high-intensity cardio spent the remainder of their time acting in a leisurely fashion. These people burned fewer calories and were not deemed to be as active as the other group.
This goes against a preconceived notion that high-intensity workouts are the best way to lose weight. In fact, just walking two miles or biking five miles in 30 minutes is enough activity to keep you healthy for the day. These are also great activities for people who are aging or obese because they are less stressful on the body.
So go ahead and get active. Try walking to the store, taking the stairs, or biking around your neighborhood. It is fun and you don’t have to worry about completely stressing out your body.
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Tags: anti-aging solutions, exercise
