Don't be lazy! Walking for 15 minutes a day can extend your life by 3 years

Stop making excuses for exercise! Exercise is good for health, but most people often use excuses such as "no time", "bad weather", "tiredness" to slack off, failing to meet the minimum standards of the "Exercise 333 Principles", and thus damaging their health in the long term. In response to this, the National Institutes of Health released new exercise guidelines, recommending that people who do not have the habit of exercising develop a "deliberate" practice of walking for 15 minutes or jogging for 5 minutes every day. If they persist in doing so, they can simply reduce the risk of death by 14% and cancer by 10%, and thus extend their lifespan by 3 years.

Studies have found that walking for 15 minutes a day can reduce the risk of disease and extend life by 3 years.

30 minutes too long? Cutting exercise time in half can also keep you healthy

The current domestic exercise guidelines are "Exercise 333", which requires at least 3 days a week, at least 30 minutes a day, and a heart rate of 130 beats per minute. The slogan is loud and easy to remember, but it has the disadvantages of making it difficult to measure the pulse, and the heart rate intensity varies at different ages, so most people cannot do it. Another exercise guideline recommends "walking 10,000 steps a day". Although it is suitable for all ages and can be done anytime and anywhere, walking 10,000 steps is equivalent to 6 to 8 kilometers and takes 90 minutes, which is generally not accepted by busy people.

In fact, exercise can be as simple as taking 15 minutes of brisk walking every day. Professor Wen Qibang of the National Institutes of Health compiled the content of domestic and foreign journals and found that walking for 15 minutes a day can reduce the risk of diseases such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and kidney disease, and can extend life expectancy by 3 to 5 years; walking for 30 minutes a day can be more effective in preventing diseases and can extend life expectancy by 4 years.

The longer you exercise, the greater the health benefits. However, Professor Wen Qibang pointed out that studies have found that the "first 15 minutes" of exercise every day are the most beneficial, better than the second and third 15 minutes. Therefore, people who do not have the habit of exercising can develop the habit of "deliberately exercising" for 15 minutes every day to enjoy significant health benefits.

Professor Wen Qibang’s research found that the first 15 minutes of exercise each day have the greatest health benefits. (Photography by Luo Huiwen)

Only deliberate exercise counts! The happiness factor makes exercise addictive

The so-called "deliberate exercise" refers to exercise that is truly voluntary and not forced, because spontaneous exercise can stimulate the brain to secrete endorphins, which keeps you in a good mood and produces a "form addiction" effect, which helps you persist in exercise. Deliberate exercise, including "exercise for exercise's sake" such as walking or running; deliberately taking the stairs when going upstairs; walking six blocks instead of three blocks to catch the bus to and from work; swimming, ball games, martial arts, dance, mountain climbing, weight training, etc.

For busy or lazy people, the easiest way to exercise deliberately is walking and jogging, but which one is most helpful in prolonging life? Professor Wen Qibang analyzed that the health benefits of brisk walking for 15 minutes and jogging for 5 minutes are the same. In terms of time efficiency, jogging is better than brisk walking. However, running is prone to injury and has limited activity areas. In comparison, brisk walking, which is a low-intensity exercise, has a lower risk of injury, can be done anywhere, does not cause profuse sweating, is easy to maintain, is relaxing, and allows you to chat with friends and enhance social interaction. It is more suitable for people who are just starting to exercise or the elderly. If you are used to brisk walking, you can also increase the intensity of exercise according to your personal situation and mix brisk walking and jogging.

Professor Zhuo Junchen reminds that when walking, one should wear shock-absorbing jogging shoes and walk briskly in coordination with breathing.

There is a science to health walking! 4 steps to inhale, 4 steps to exhale

Any sport has rules to follow. Zhuo Junchen, a professor at the Department of Physical Education at National Taiwan Normal University, reminds people that when walking, they should still pay attention to the safety of their steps, wear jogging shoes with cushioning and shock absorption effects, land on their heels first, take slightly larger steps than usual, bend their arms slightly and swing them naturally, and maintain a brisk pace. They should coordinate their walking with their breathing, take a breath every 2 to 4 steps, and then exhale after another 2 to 4 steps, to avoid holding their breath while walking. This can train their cardiopulmonary function, and they can breathe through their mouths or noses.