11 Minutes a Day- That’s All You Need!
When it comes to exercise, most people tend to overcomplicate things. They think they need to spend hours at the gym or run endless miles. Luckily there have been new studies that show all we really need is just a little bit of movement each day.
What if I told you all you need is 11 minutes a day doing some sort of physical activity!? Who doesn’t have 11 minutes? I know I suffer from the mindset of “well if I can’t fit in the whole workout, there’s no point in doing anything.” That can’t be further from the truth! In a recent article by CNN Health, Rogers writes “Just 11 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous intensity aerobic activity per day could lower your risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease or premature death”.
So what qualifies as an aerobic activity? Walking, running, cycling, swimming, and dancing, to name a few. Now this doesn’t mean you can walk for 11 minutes at a slow pace; you still have to get that heart rate up! After all, the study shows the activity must be moderate to vigorous. A good rule of thumb is to know if you’re achieving moderate intensity- you should be able to talk but not sing. For vigorous-intensity- you shouldn’t be able to carry on conservation.
If you know how to manually check your heart rate or have a smartwatch, you can check your heart rate at rest and during exercise to make sure you are actually working your heart! Everyone is going to have different maximum heart rates during exercise so always make sure you consult with your physician before you start any aerobic exercise, especially if it is something new. Your Doctor of Physical Therapy can help you set up an exercise program, come up with a target heart rate for exercise and teach you how to accurately monitor your heart rate before, during, and after exercise.
I don’t know about you but I love data and research that back up studies; this article demonstrates just that. The University of Cambridge looked at data from 196 studies, amounting to over 30 million adult participants who were followed for about 10 years. This study focused on participants who had done the minimum recommended amount of 150 minutes of exercise per week, which is about 22 minutes of exercise per day. The studies found adults who had done 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous aerobic physical activity per week had a 31% lower risk of dying from any cause, a 29% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, and a 15% lower risk of dying from cancer.
Even those who performed half of the minimum recommended time, so approximately 75 minutes a week or 11 minutes a day, of moderate-intensity physical activity, were associated with a 23% lower risk of early death. They also reduced their risk of cardiovascular disease by 17% and cancer by 7%.
We have always known that physical activity is important to maintain our health and improve our quality of life, but this compelling study confirms the importance of it. Also, how fascinating that you don’t have to spend hours in the gym and run endless miles to get the health benefits?! Anyone can devote 11 minutes a day to physical activity. Plus, once you start doing it and realize how much better you feel moving your body, I guarantee you slowly start bumping up that time from 11 minutes to 22 minutes. Our bodies were made to move and we have to honor that.
If you are new to exercising, the important thing is doing something you genuinely enjoy doing. If you enjoy dancing, take a Zumba class or turn on some music and dance in your kitchen! Think outside the box when it comes to physical activity. While walking and cycling are great, if you do not enjoy them, chances are you will not be motivated to do it regularly. So find something you love and enjoy and turn it into your physical activity for the day.
Let’s get to work on a healthier heart and healthier you! Turn off your TV, put down your phone/tablet and get in those 11 minutes a day. We all have the time, we just need to use it efficiently. If you need any ideas on where to start, I would love to help you! You can email us at info@imovephysicaltherapy.com and we can get you started today working on your physical activity!
By Vanessa Kamp, PT, DPT, CMTPT/DN