You know what they say, no pain no gain. Spending your days on chairs and couches, eating junk food and watching TV simply will not keep you healthy. And while you might not care about that when you’re 25, there comes a time when it starts to matter. A new study reveals that the key to a longer and better life is simpler than you might think. Just 30 minutes of exercise, six days a week just might keep you around for as long as 5 year more.
The study was conducted in Norway and it has been gathering and analyzing data since 1972. It is called the Oslo Study and it has been following thousands of men throughout almost half of their life.
It all began with 15,000 male participants back in 1972, all born between 1923 and 1932, who volunteered to supply information regarding their health status, lifestyle choices and obviously exercise schedule.
Then, in 2000 they were asked to come back for a follow-up, but 3,300 of the participants had died. Of the surviving initial participants, only 5,700 agreed to continue in the study.
The next phase of the study was in 2011 and it only entailed 3,600 of the 2000 participants, as the rest had died. But it was as this point when the scientists observed the impressive effect that exercise had on the heath status of their patients.
At that point in the study, most participants were between 70 and 80 years old and the fact that a light exercise program, performed regularly had such an impact was amazing. The scientists compared it to the effects they had seen in patients who had given up smoking.
“A mortality reduction of 40 per cent was associated with a moderate use of time (30 minutes, six days a week) irrespective of whether the activity was light or vigorous,”, the study concluded.
The recommendations made by these researchers ware that campaigns that promote daily exercise for elderly people be conducted widely all around the world, because the effects would be beneficial to all. They viewed the importance of this campaign as similar to those regarding the dangers of smoking or artificial tanning.
The most important issue is making people aware of the values of exercise since what it entails can be free of charge. While exercise performed in a gym or specialized facility would be preferred, in order to make sure people do not injure themselves, it is not strictly necessary.
The 5-year effect could be obtained at home, free of charge with just a simple set of basic exercise. Probably the most dangerous thing keeping people from doing this is laziness. According to the study, in most cases, people do not exercise enough or at all because they are too lazy to do so.
Just in time to corroborate this theory, another study conducted by the British Heart Foundation was recently released. The British study looked at the amount of people who exercise regularly, on a multinational basis.
It turns out that Portugal is laziest country in the study, with 69% of people living a sedentary life, followed by Poland with 55% and France with 46%. On the other hand the Netherlands have proven to be quite ready for the 5-year challenge proposed by Norway, with only 14% who do not exercise, followed by Germany with 26%.
While the Oslo Study revealed some amazing news, somehow it does not come as a surprise that the key to a longer life is anything other than diet and exercise. There is no magic potion to keep you alive forever, there is only discipline and moderation that can make a difference. So by making the effort of exercising only 30 minutes a day, six days a week, you will be happier, healthier and you will live longer.
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