What's the minimum amount of exercise we can do for maximum health and lifespan benefits?

New research, published in The Lancet, set out to answer this question.

World Health Organisation guidelines recommend a minimum of 30 minutes of "moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity" five days a week, but whether less exercise than the recommended 150 minutes a week and whether different types of exercise can have life expectancy and other health benefits is unclear. 

So, the Canadian study tracked the exercise patterns and life expectancy of more than 130,000 adults from 17 different countries over the course of six to nine years.

Compared with those who did less than 150 minutes a week, people who exercised for 30 minutes a day had a reduced risk of heart disease and premature death in high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries. 

Here is the audio link to an interesting interview on Radio NZ National on 19 April 21, 2020 Sunday morning show about a new research project by Associate Professor Elaine Hargraves from Otago University on the effects of sitting on humans.

Our bodies are hard wired to protect us from danger. In ancient times the bear or the lion or any other predator was always lurking. Today our society has evolved and we no longer live in the wild but our bodies are wired the same. We still enter the ‘fight or flight’ mode only today the danger we feel comes from our fast paced lives, not meeting a deadline or responding to an email. Some of us live in a constant state of stress always busy.

Prevention is better than a cure. This applies not only to illnesses but also to injuries. The beginning of a new decade is the perfect opportunity to think about the safety of your workers.

It is ethical to come up with measures to prevent workplace-related injuries. Many countries place a legal duty for employers to uphold workplace safety laws.

In New Zealand, there is the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA). The act requires employers to take practical steps to rid their workplace of any risks that could harm an employee or anyone else, such as members of the public or customers.

Recently, I participated in an IMNZ Future of Work Series that talked about the imminent Artificial Intelligence that is going to become more prevalent in the workforce. I was surprised to hear that they didn’t talk about AI at all, rather the importance of being Human. It was said that our humanity is our point of difference to these systems.