Best Keeping Fit Exercise: Fitness Guru Apologizes and Lowers the Bar Advocating “No Sweat” Exercise!

Fitness experts are lowering the bar on exercise by re-defining what it takes to be fit. After many years of saying that you need to get 30 to 60 minutes aerobic exercise a day, the new advice is – don’t sweat it, because a “little bit” goes a long way.

“I regret preaching the doctrine of aerobics as I did for so many years,” says Harvey Simon, the Harvard Medical School professor, “because you can get the health benefits of exercise without ever buying a pair of sneakers or getting into a sweat.” His latest book, "The No Sweat Excercise Plan" outlines his new recommendations for best keeping fit.

Experts Urge Lowering Standards

After years of preaching the virtues of aerobic exercise and of pushing your heart rate, experts may have trouble convincing people that only moderate exertion is needed for their health.

Dr. Harvey Simon now believes that it takes only about half of what he used to recommend, and that “We need a new way to think about exercise -- but the trouble now is convincing people that a little extra effort does go a long way.”

Why? Data from various exercise studies shows that for most of us, the biggest gains in health come from moderate exertion like walking up stairs, gardening, doing housework, walking the dog and playing golf, when we are using far less effort than the recommended 30 to 60 minutes of aerobics a day.

Experts are now busy re-defining fitness because they are realizing that the BIGGEST health benefits come from just a SMALL increase in activity such as:

• Five hours of housework a week

• a nine-minute walk a day

• for four hours of weekend golf

all translate into dramatic reductions in risk for heart attacks and other health problems.

Biggest Gains With “No Pain!”

Many doctors are now trying to undo the notions people have about fitness because their standards were set unreasonably high by the aerobics movement.

Why? Because people don’t believe they can benefit with less, and the average person “still thinks you have to train for a marathon to get fit,” says Dr. Tim Church of Dallas at the Cooper Institute. (The Founder, Kenneth Cooper, coined the term “aerobics.”)

• But he says that all the evidence now shows that it takes less than what has been typically advised.

What’s the Best “Dose?”

So what’s the magic number? What is considered enough?

In June of 2001, researchers reviewed 44 exercise studies and found that most of the benefit of exercise kick in with the first 1000 calories of increased activity each WEEK, which reduces the risk of dying during the various study periods by 20 per cent to 30 per cent, according to the Journal of Medical Science and Exercise.

• To burn 1,000 calories A WEEK or about 145 CALORIES A DAY, most people need to increase their daily activity only slightly.

• A 180-pound person could burn off about 100 calories during 20 minutes of housework.

• Add a 10-minute walk for 50 calories or take the stairs four times a day for 100 calories, and you’ve exceeded your daily goal.

Scientists are still working on studies that will determine what “dose” of exercise offers the biggest gains in health.

• In the meantime, you can challenge yourself to walk JUST A BIT MORE every day by getting a pedometer, or you can find out how many calories are burnt up by your favorite activities on a Calculator.

“Something” Better Than “Nothing”

Researchers now say that every little bit helps:

• A 1999 study of more than 800 residents of Kings County Washington, showed dramatic health benefits among those who gardened or walked for just ONE HOUR A WEEK.

• Although that adds up to only about 400 to 500 calories, the increased activity translated into about a 70 per cent lower risk of dying from sudden cardiac arrest!

Anti Aging Exercise

Studies have supported the notion that a little activity goes a long way for senior fitness and anti aging.

• The medical Journal Diabetes Care showed that moderate keeping fit exercise added nearly two and a half years to life expectancy for patients, compared with those who were sedentary.

• A 2004 report by Swedish researchers showed that older adults who exercised ONLY ONCE A WEEK were 40% less likely to die during the 12-year study period than those who did nothing.

Doctors Gave Wrong Fitness Message

For years the medical community preached the need for vigorous aerobic activity and athletic fitness.

The trouble with this message is that most people think they need to take a daily jog or hit the gym several times a week to boost their health.

Even though people know to walk up stairs rather than take an elevator, or park a little further away, doctors say that their patients don’t believe this makes a difference.

When we get the message that moderate exercise really does improve our health, we might be more inclined to take even a short walk or get some vacuuming done for our daily exercise.

Many doctors are now hoping to undo the wrong impression caused by the aerobics movement. They are trying to redefine how much keeping fit exercise is really enough, and encourage their patients to think about "health fitness" rather than "athletic fitness."

Keeping Fit for Health of for Athletics?

It is of course still a great goal to be athletically fit, because it has clear benefits, such as improved muscle tone, energy levels and improved psychological well-being.

Don’t throw away that special equipment yet! People who do work out vigorously several hours a week should definitely continue this because of the extra benefits, and those with a strong family history of heart disease might be advised to adopt a more vigorous fitness program as well.

And if you enjoy a physical challenge, all the better!

Best For Calorie Burning?

Strength training is often promoted with the idea that increased muscle mass burns more calories at rest. This claim is overstated says the American College of Sports Medicine.

Training can indeed enhance both your resting metabolic rate and the number of calories you burn post-workout, but to what extent and how long is unclear.

While working out boosts metabolism, dieting is known to decrease it. And the majority of studies have shown that weight training does not blunt the decline in metabolic rate that occurs with diet-induced weight loss.

So, while there are many good reasons for moving more, especially burning calories, don’t waste your time on activities that claim to speed up your metabolism.

Instead, choose the type of physical activity that you can sustain over the long haul – that’s the best way to get rid of pounds.

Yoga Curbs Weight Gain

Even though yoga is not aerobic, and not a big calorie burner, it may still stave off that middle age spread. A survey that tracked weight gain in 15,500 adults from age 45 to 55 revealed that the normal-weight people who practiced yoga at least 30 minutes a week for 4 of those years gained 3 fewer pounds than those who didn’t.

Even better, overweight yogis lost 5 pounds over the decade, while their non-yoga practicing peers gained an additional 14. Evidently, relaxation, stretching and awareness come into play for fitness as well.

Don’t Sweat The Ftiness Thing

While the experts are re-defining keeping fit for health rather than for athletics, remember that the big benefits come from SMALL INCREASES IN ACTIVITY.

No doubt we can all think of a few extra fun things that include moving or walking that can increase calorie burning and our wellbeing. We might even get inspired to do the housework that has been ignored. Now that this is officially counts as exercise, maybe the vacuuming will get done more often!

Dr Oz and Dr Roisen also say to "ditch the scale in favor of the tape measure." Why?

Keeping fit exercise ideally focuses on WAIST-Loss instead of WEIGHT Loss! Why?

For one healthful reason: Waist size is more important than weight, because belly fat is so strongly linked to many health risks.

Take 20 minutes right now to try Dr. Oz's gym-free workout:

FREE Beginners VIDEOS From the OPRAH Show Dr. Oz No gyms, no expensive equipment and no excuses!

Complete Dr. Oz's free workout three times per week—along with your daily walk — to improve your strength, flexibility and cardio:

FREE DOWNLOAD Dr OZ "Waist Loss" Exercises

Running: LESS Pain MORE Gain

If you enjoy running, you will want to take a few tips from childen and Kenyans -- the world's best long-distance runners, who even though they have small leg muscles, they are always winning races.

The secret, apparently, is that they loosely swing their arms, shoulders and hips. Children also run loose like this because their muscles havn't tightened up from years of being sedentary most of the day without a natural flow of keeping fit exercise.

Fitness experts are now finding that such a "natural posture" eliminates injuries and improves speed. With such very subtle differences, people can eliminate shin splints, stress fractures and calf problems. Scientists are studying these natural techniques developed by elite athletes Roger Davies and Helly Visser.