You may never win gold in the marathon but experts say you could at least walk toward better health.
Researchers say it may take far less exercise than people had thought to lower the risk of heart disease especially for the highest risk group, middle-aged men. They want to encourage people to literally take the first step.
“Doing something is better than doing nothing,” says epidemiologist1 Steven N. Blair of the Institute for Aerobics Research in Dallas. “Standing is better than sitting, moving around is better than standing.”
“Lower intensity exercise brisk2 walking on a regular basis —— provides a fair amount of benefits,” says Dr. William L. Haskell, deputy director of the Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention, in California.
Blair and Haskell agree that the highest-risk men are those who do virtually nothing.
Haskell says the men he studied changed their risk factors in key areas —— lowering their body weight and blood pressure, while raising their HDL (High Density Lipoprotein) cholesterol, the so-called ‘good' cholesterol that's associated with a decreased risk of heart disease.
Haskell says his subjects did it with a program of brisk walking 30 to 40 minutes at 3.5 to 4.5miles per hour (5.6 to 7.2 kilometers per hour) every other day. This much exercise should put your rate in the 110-125 beat per minute range or 60 percent of capacity.
That's significantly below what experts have considered the minimum thresholds3 for a training benefit to kick in4 70 to 80 percent of capacity. Haskell says this range is based primarily on studies of comparatively more fit college students by researchers who wanted to detect improvement over comparatively shorter time periods.
Blair and Haskell say the training threshold concept may be misleading, because smaller doses of exercise can produce some improvement.
And, says Haskell, the prospect5 of having to gasp6 and strain their way to better health at a 70-80 percent target range has kept a lot of people from trying.
“When you look at the population over age 45, using current guidelines on exercise 30 to 40 minutes at 70 to 80 percent of capacity, three times a week no more than 20 percent of men and ten percent of women meet that criteria7,” he said.
The public may be thinking, “How little can I do and still get away with it?” Blair says. He says they may need less than they think.
And, says Haskell, the prospect5 of having to gasp6 and strain their way to better health at a 70-80 percent target range has kept a lot of people from trying.
“When you look at the population over age 45, using current guidelines on exercise 30 to 40 minutes at 70 to 80 percent of capacity, three times a week no more than 20 percent of men and ten percent of women meet that criteria7,” he said.
The public may be thinking, “How little can I do and still get away with it?” Blair says. He says they may need less than they think.
And if you can't spare 30 to 40 minutes in a lump8, Haskell says you can break it into 10-minute segments9. He says that his research indicates you'll still get health benefits, and they may be nearly as great.
However, neither researcher suggests that people who arc doing more should cut back. Both say there is more benefit in being more fit.
Blair says vigorous exercise can relieve stress and make you better able to enjoy other kinds of outdoor sports.
And he says that, if walking or jogging doesn't appeal to you, then you might find some other form of aerobic10 exercise that can make you at least moderately fit.
He defines high fitness in men as jogging two miles (3.2 kilometers) in less than 20 minutes, and high fitness in women as doing the same in 20 to 24 minutes.
The goal, he says, is to live to enjoy something.
也許你永遠也無法在馬拉松比賽中贏得金牌，但是專家們表示，至少你可以利用散步來鍛煉身體。
研究人員表示，想要減低罹患心臟病的機率，并不像一般人所認為的要做許多運動，尤其是針對高危險群的中年男人而言。他們想要鼓勵人們真正走出運動的第一步。
達拉斯有氧研究機構(gòu)的傳染病學家，史蒂芬·布萊爾說道：“做點事總比什么都不做好，站著比坐著好，四處活動更勝于只站著不動?！?BR> 加利福尼亞州史丹佛疾病防治研究中心的副主任，威廉· 哈斯卡爾博士說：“較不劇烈的運動——譬如有規(guī)律地快走——就有相當多的好處?！?BR> 布萊爾和哈斯卡爾都同意所謂高危險群就是那些從不運動的人。
哈斯卡爾說，他所研究的男性中，已改變了幾個關鍵性的危險因素——減輕體重、血壓降低，提高體內(nèi)高密度脂蛋白的膽固醇，亦即有益的膽固醇。這種膽固醇能降低患心臟病的危險。
哈斯卡爾說，他的這些研究對象因為參與一項快走的訓練計劃而降低了患心臟病的危險，訓練方法是：每隔1天花30~40分鐘以3.5~4.5英里(平均每小時5~7公里左右)的速度快走，這樣的運動可使你的心率每分鐘跳動110~125下，或者，達到心跳極限的60%。 這個數(shù)字明顯低于專家們所認為的能使任何一種訓練有效的最低門坎標準，即心跳極限的70%~80%。哈斯卡爾說，這個數(shù)字是根據(jù)一些想要在短時間內(nèi)就能看出運動效果的研究員，并針對比較健康的大學生所做的實驗結(jié)果而定的。
布萊爾和哈斯卡爾則說：“這種訓練門坎的觀念可能有錯誤。因為少量的運動也能增進健康?！?BR> 哈斯卡爾說，“一想到要達到必須在70%到80%范圍之內(nèi)的健康指標，就必須氣喘如牛，竭盡全力地鍛煉身體，許多人便望而卻步?！?BR> 他說：“我們針對的是年齡45以上的人口，若使用目前的運動指標，即在30到40分鐘內(nèi)達到70%~80%的心跳率，一星期做3次。只有20%的男性和10%的女性才能達到這樣的標準?！?BR> 布萊爾說：“人們可能會想能不能不做如此激烈的運動，而仍能增進健康呢？”他說，“實際上，他們可能需要做的比他們所想到的還要少。
“如果你不能一次花30~40分的時間來做運動，”哈斯卡爾說，“你可以10分鐘一次做做運動?！彼难芯恐赋?，這樣做仍然有益于健康，而且效果幾乎和前者一樣。
不過，兩位研究員都不提倡多做運動的人要減少運動量。他們都表示愈健康者獲益愈多。
布萊爾說：“激烈的運動可以消除緊張，使你更能享受其他的戶外運動?！?BR> 他認為，身體狀況處于的男性可以在20分鐘內(nèi)慢跑2英里(約3.2公里)，健康指數(shù)為巔峰的女性約在20~24分鐘跑完全程。
他說：“如果你對散步或慢跑不感興趣，那么你也許能夠做一些類似于有氧舞蹈的運動讓你保持適當?shù)慕】?。而最終的目標就是能活著享受一些你真正喜歡做的事?！?BR>
Researchers say it may take far less exercise than people had thought to lower the risk of heart disease especially for the highest risk group, middle-aged men. They want to encourage people to literally take the first step.
“Doing something is better than doing nothing,” says epidemiologist1 Steven N. Blair of the Institute for Aerobics Research in Dallas. “Standing is better than sitting, moving around is better than standing.”
“Lower intensity exercise brisk2 walking on a regular basis —— provides a fair amount of benefits,” says Dr. William L. Haskell, deputy director of the Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention, in California.
Blair and Haskell agree that the highest-risk men are those who do virtually nothing.
Haskell says the men he studied changed their risk factors in key areas —— lowering their body weight and blood pressure, while raising their HDL (High Density Lipoprotein) cholesterol, the so-called ‘good' cholesterol that's associated with a decreased risk of heart disease.
Haskell says his subjects did it with a program of brisk walking 30 to 40 minutes at 3.5 to 4.5miles per hour (5.6 to 7.2 kilometers per hour) every other day. This much exercise should put your rate in the 110-125 beat per minute range or 60 percent of capacity.
That's significantly below what experts have considered the minimum thresholds3 for a training benefit to kick in4 70 to 80 percent of capacity. Haskell says this range is based primarily on studies of comparatively more fit college students by researchers who wanted to detect improvement over comparatively shorter time periods.
Blair and Haskell say the training threshold concept may be misleading, because smaller doses of exercise can produce some improvement.
And, says Haskell, the prospect5 of having to gasp6 and strain their way to better health at a 70-80 percent target range has kept a lot of people from trying.
“When you look at the population over age 45, using current guidelines on exercise 30 to 40 minutes at 70 to 80 percent of capacity, three times a week no more than 20 percent of men and ten percent of women meet that criteria7,” he said.
The public may be thinking, “How little can I do and still get away with it?” Blair says. He says they may need less than they think.
And, says Haskell, the prospect5 of having to gasp6 and strain their way to better health at a 70-80 percent target range has kept a lot of people from trying.
“When you look at the population over age 45, using current guidelines on exercise 30 to 40 minutes at 70 to 80 percent of capacity, three times a week no more than 20 percent of men and ten percent of women meet that criteria7,” he said.
The public may be thinking, “How little can I do and still get away with it?” Blair says. He says they may need less than they think.
And if you can't spare 30 to 40 minutes in a lump8, Haskell says you can break it into 10-minute segments9. He says that his research indicates you'll still get health benefits, and they may be nearly as great.
However, neither researcher suggests that people who arc doing more should cut back. Both say there is more benefit in being more fit.
Blair says vigorous exercise can relieve stress and make you better able to enjoy other kinds of outdoor sports.
And he says that, if walking or jogging doesn't appeal to you, then you might find some other form of aerobic10 exercise that can make you at least moderately fit.
He defines high fitness in men as jogging two miles (3.2 kilometers) in less than 20 minutes, and high fitness in women as doing the same in 20 to 24 minutes.
The goal, he says, is to live to enjoy something.
也許你永遠也無法在馬拉松比賽中贏得金牌，但是專家們表示，至少你可以利用散步來鍛煉身體。
研究人員表示，想要減低罹患心臟病的機率，并不像一般人所認為的要做許多運動，尤其是針對高危險群的中年男人而言。他們想要鼓勵人們真正走出運動的第一步。
達拉斯有氧研究機構(gòu)的傳染病學家，史蒂芬·布萊爾說道：“做點事總比什么都不做好，站著比坐著好，四處活動更勝于只站著不動?！?BR> 加利福尼亞州史丹佛疾病防治研究中心的副主任，威廉· 哈斯卡爾博士說：“較不劇烈的運動——譬如有規(guī)律地快走——就有相當多的好處?！?BR> 布萊爾和哈斯卡爾都同意所謂高危險群就是那些從不運動的人。
哈斯卡爾說，他所研究的男性中，已改變了幾個關鍵性的危險因素——減輕體重、血壓降低，提高體內(nèi)高密度脂蛋白的膽固醇，亦即有益的膽固醇。這種膽固醇能降低患心臟病的危險。
哈斯卡爾說，他的這些研究對象因為參與一項快走的訓練計劃而降低了患心臟病的危險，訓練方法是：每隔1天花30~40分鐘以3.5~4.5英里(平均每小時5~7公里左右)的速度快走，這樣的運動可使你的心率每分鐘跳動110~125下，或者，達到心跳極限的60%。 這個數(shù)字明顯低于專家們所認為的能使任何一種訓練有效的最低門坎標準，即心跳極限的70%~80%。哈斯卡爾說，這個數(shù)字是根據(jù)一些想要在短時間內(nèi)就能看出運動效果的研究員，并針對比較健康的大學生所做的實驗結(jié)果而定的。
布萊爾和哈斯卡爾則說：“這種訓練門坎的觀念可能有錯誤。因為少量的運動也能增進健康?！?BR> 哈斯卡爾說，“一想到要達到必須在70%到80%范圍之內(nèi)的健康指標，就必須氣喘如牛，竭盡全力地鍛煉身體，許多人便望而卻步?！?BR> 他說：“我們針對的是年齡45以上的人口，若使用目前的運動指標，即在30到40分鐘內(nèi)達到70%~80%的心跳率，一星期做3次。只有20%的男性和10%的女性才能達到這樣的標準?！?BR> 布萊爾說：“人們可能會想能不能不做如此激烈的運動，而仍能增進健康呢？”他說，“實際上，他們可能需要做的比他們所想到的還要少。
“如果你不能一次花30~40分的時間來做運動，”哈斯卡爾說，“你可以10分鐘一次做做運動?！彼难芯恐赋?，這樣做仍然有益于健康，而且效果幾乎和前者一樣。
不過，兩位研究員都不提倡多做運動的人要減少運動量。他們都表示愈健康者獲益愈多。
布萊爾說：“激烈的運動可以消除緊張，使你更能享受其他的戶外運動?！?BR> 他認為，身體狀況處于的男性可以在20分鐘內(nèi)慢跑2英里(約3.2公里)，健康指數(shù)為巔峰的女性約在20~24分鐘跑完全程。
他說：“如果你對散步或慢跑不感興趣，那么你也許能夠做一些類似于有氧舞蹈的運動讓你保持適當?shù)慕】?。而最終的目標就是能活著享受一些你真正喜歡做的事?！?BR>