Washington (IANS)L: For real health benefits, people should exercise for
30 minutes a day five times a week, a new study has found.
Although pedometers (which measure how much we walk) are widely used as a
physical activity monitoring tool, they are unable to measure activity
intensity. Researchers have determined that a rate of at least 100 steps per
minute achieves moderate intensity activity.
Therefore a simple pedometer-based recommendation of 3,000 steps in 30 minutes
can get people started on a meaningful exercise programme.
While being monitored for oxygen uptake during walking on a treadmill, 58 women
and 39 men completed four to six-minute sessions at different treadmill speeds
between 65 and 110 metres per minute.
All wore pedometers and their heart rates were recorded. Using 3 METs, or
metabolic equivalents, as the minimum level of oxygen demand which approximates
moderate exercise, participants were monitored to determine whether they had
reached the moderate-exercise level at a given treadmill speed.
From these data, the researchers found that for men, step counts associated with
walking at three METs were between 92 and 102 steps per minute. For women, the
range was between 91 and 115 steps per minute.
Lead investigator Simon J. Marshall, School of Exercise and Nutritional
Sciences, San Diego State University (SDSU), said: "We believe that these data
support a general recommendation of walking at more than 100 steps per minute on
level terrain to meet the minimum of the moderate-intensity guideline."
Because health benefits can be achieved with bouts of exercise lasting at least
10 minutes, a useful starting point is to try and accumulate 1,000 steps in 10
minutes, before building up to 3,000 steps in 30 minutes, said a SDSU release.
Individuals can monitor their progress using a simple pedometer and a
wristwatch.
The study is scheduled for publication in the May issue of the American Journal
of Preventive Medicine.
