Increasing Your Health Span
Helping you live longer AND healthier is what my focus is here, and there are 2 reasons.
#1 The average lifespan for men is around 75 and 78 for women…that’s just WAY too young, especially when you account for the fact that so many people die that young due to age-related degeneration that is completely PREVENTABLE!
#2 When polled, many don’t even care to live much longer than that because they see aging as something that will just progressively move them towards be bedridden…
And no one wants to live a long time like that!
Preventing the 5 Main Causes of Mortality
But if we can prevent, beyond a shadow of a doubt, 4 of the 5 top causes of mortality (Type 2 Diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Stroke, Cardiovascular Disease, & Cancer…cancer is the wild card due to all we may have been exposed to when we were young), then why wouldn’t we do all we could to have both long AND healthy lives?!
If you’re reading this, I know you get it!
You’re not the average woman. You are determined to stay as healthy as possible for as long as possible, and you know that’s going to take some work and intention!
Which brings me to today’s study and how, in just 60 seconds, 4x a day, we can reduce all-cause mortality (yes, even reduce our chances of cancer) by incorporating this type of exercise.
The Research
A recent study by Australian University of Sydney found that non-exercisers who exert themselves now and then tend to live longer than those who never exert themselves at all…even if for only a few minutes a day.
Emmanuel Stamatakis, Professor of Physical Activity, Lifestyle and Population Health at the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkin’s Centre says engaging in several bursts of vigorous activity totaling 3-4 minutes per day is associated with a 49% reduction in death from cardiovascular disease and up to a 40% reduction in cancer and all-cause mortality.
This is staggering so I want you to read that again, because the only thing that out does this statistic is sauna which touts up to a 63% reduction in all-cause mortality (more on that next week).
Burst Examples:
I’ll give you some examples that you can perform for 30-60 seconds 3-4 times a day.
Why as little as 30 seconds? Because if you’re really pushing these bursts, your heart rate will stay elevated for up to 1.5 minutes.
- Fast pedaling on an upright bike
- One sprint
- One set of 20 burpees
- Running in place
- Jump rope
Push your pace for 30-60 seconds…just walking won’t do this so refer to the examples above.
More is better. 11 brief bursts a day is associated with a 65% reduction in cardiovascular death and all cause mortality.
The Takeaway
3-4 brief bursts of vigorous activity will dramatically decrease your risk of all -cause mortality and even more bring the benefits up exponentially!
Now go get your burst on!
Love you!
Lisa
