Let’s (not) get physical
Written on May 6, 2010 at 5:17 pm
Easy for you to say!!
I still break out into a cold sweat when I see old video footage of ONJ in her leotard ‘getting physical’. No, not that sort of cold sweat; the kind that confirms my complete nausea and fear of a spin class or anything else that will force me into a gym.
So how happy was I to read the latest issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine? A study published in the latest issue found that it’s not the volume of high intensity hard core work outs you do that kick your health along, but the amount of general activity. You know, passive stuff like walking around, without getting your heart rate up and your armpits saturated!
For every 1000 steps people take per day, the authors reported, there were huge reductions in waist circumference, triglycerides in the blood and boosts in good (HDL) cholesterol levels. Being moderately active (5000 steps a day) gave you a 40% lower risk of developing metabolic syndrome (spare tyre around the middle plus high blood pressure, high triglycerides, low HDLs and funny sugar metabolism) than people who were total couch potatoes.
Gym junkies are often so exhausted after getting physical 80s style that they collapse in front of their computer screens for the rest of the day and end up with no net benefits in terms of steps taken than those of us who are gym avoiders.
So there you go. If the thought of heading out for a pump class or a fun 10k run makes you want to puke, it’s not all curtains for your health after all. Just make sure that you get your steps in bit by bit!
