Are you someone who hits the gym at the weekend but feels guilty that you can't seem to find the time to workout in the week?
Maybe you're somone holding back from starting a gym routine because you can only commit to a couple of days a week? Whatever the reason, this new study has suggested that working out just a couple of times a week carries significant health benefits.
The finding suggests that
"even less frequent bouts of activity, which might fit more easily into a busy lifestyle, offer significant health benefits"
even in the obese and those with medical risk factors. Lead study author Emmanuel Stamatakis, the University of Sydney, said in a statement, “It is very encouraging news that being physically active on just one or two occasions per week is associated with a lower risk of death, even among people who do some activity but don’t quite meet recommended exercise levels.”
Most exercise plans suggest working out 4-5 times a week, which - let's face it - can be a little intimdating if you're going from zero days of exercise a a week! This study suggests that you can still see positive gains from this amount of exercise and people can stop feeling like their failing because they're only going to the gym a couple of days a week - just remember that you've got to be working up a good sweat on those two days!
Although the results are encouraging that even a small amount of activity is having positive effect on our health, we didn't name our business Move for nothing! Even if you can't spare an hour to get to the gym or your favourite fitness class then try and fit in a quick run or a half hour session during your lunch break. Stamatakis agrees, and added that for optimal health benefits you should also try to meet or exceed the physical activity recommendations.
Finding something that fits around you is KEY!
