Wait! You Only Need To Exercise For Four Seconds?
Due to stay-at-home orders, the closure of fitness centers, and the desire to finish Netflix (can it really be done?), many of us have not been getting the needed amount of athletic activity.
But, what if all you needed to do to stay healthy was four seconds of exercise per hour?
Well, if you believe an article in the New York Times, that's all you need.
According to a study done by Edward F. Coyle, a researcher at the University of Texas, four seconds of strenuous activity, done periodically (once an hour?) throughout the day can counteract the detrimental effects of sitting around for most of the day.
Even before the pandemic, the average adult sat for ten hours a day. Now that many have either been laid off or work from home, that amount of time has likely increased significantly. Over time, this lack of activity has been shown to contribute to heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. Lack of activity leads to an increase in fatty acids (triglycerides) in your blood stream. Those, in turn, lead to health problems.
Previous studies have found that breaking your day up with a lengthy workout does not remove triglycerides from your blood stream.
However, this new study found that shorter, more frequent, workouts did a much better job of getting rid of those fatty acids.
How much do you work out? How much physical activity do you do? Let us know your secrets by messaging us through our app.