January usually triggers a renewed sense of enthusiasm for getting fit, but as the months roll on and spring comes into fruition, life’s busyness often gets in the way.
However, new research suggests we do not need to commit to a strict gym schedule:
short bursts of vigorous exercise – such as taking the stairs or running for the bus – can also help us keep fit and healthy.
The study, by researchers in China, included 96,408 people taking part in the UK Biobank study. It compared the data with the likelihood of dying or developing eight health conditions over seven years: heart disease, irregular heartbeat, type 2 diabetes, liver disease, long-term lung conditions, chronic kidney disease, dementia, and immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, which include arthritis and psoriasis.
They found that people who did more vigorous exercise had a lower risk of all diseases, and that their risk of dementia was 63 per cent lower when compared to people who did no vigorous activity.
The researchers suggested that the benefits remained even if the time spent exercising intensely was modest.
This notion of short bursts of exercise is often referred to as “exercise snacking”. We spoke to fitness experts to find out what this involves and how we can translate it into our everyday lives.