I totally agree with this article......


http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/diet.....ap/index.html


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sixty to 90 minutes of exercise? Every day? That's what the government now suggests.

Even people working out at the gym say most folks won't consider that, and the experts behind the government's recommendation say 30 minutes a day is enough for most.

**** Steinkoenig, 45, of Arlington, Virginia, now works out about 90 minutes a day three days a week. Sixty or 90 minutes every day "sounds higher than certainly what the average American is going to consider," he said while using weight machines that the Thomas Jefferson Community Center in Arlington.

"I think 60 minutes would be a little much for me," added Joseph Allwein, 84, who was pedaling a stationary bike at the center. Allwein said he bikes, rows or walks for 30 minutes five days a week.

The panel of doctors and scientists that developed the recommendations put an emphasis on getting 30 minutes of exercise. But its 25 pages of recommendations were scaled down to three when they were released as part of the government's new dietary guidelines in January. Those guidelines gave equal billing to the 60- and 90-minute suggestions.

"There's an enormous need to clarify that," said Russell Pate, a panel member and professor of exercise science at the University of South Carolina school of public health. "I have no doubt that if we all met that 30-minute guideline, we'd have a lot fewer of us that have weight problems."

The guidelines are being used to update the government's food pyramid, which is due out this spring. This is what they say about exercise:


People need 30 minutes of physical activity on most days to ward off chronic disease.


To prevent unhealthy weight gain, people should spend 60 minutes on physical activity on most days.


Previously overweight people who have lost weight may need 60 to 90 minutes of exercise to keep the weight off.

Pate said it was a mistake not to tie the half-hour recommendation to people's weight.

"It probably would have helped if, in the release of the guidelines, the 30-minute recommendation had been connected to the weight issue as the 60- and 90-minute recommendations were," he said.

Weight is an issue throughout the guidelines, which tell people how to eat to be healthy. Overall, the guidelines advise eating fewer calories, more fruits, vegetables and whole grains. People should also drink more lowfat milk, eat less fat and salt and get more exercise.

The number of overweight and obese Americans is growing at an alarming rate, the panel said, which is why they included the advice recommending 60 and 90-minute daily exercise regimes in their report.


Experts say it's OK to break up activity into bouts of 10 to 15 minutes as long as it totals to at least 30.
"Because we have 60 percent of Americans overweight and 30 percent obese, we have a lot of people trying to lose weight and keep it off, and we know how difficult it is to lose weight and keep it off," said Dr. Xavier Pi-Sunyer, a panel member and director of obesity research at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York.

Up to 90 minutes a day is required for people who, since they were overweight, may have a more demanding metabolism, said Dr. Janet King, the panel's chair and a scientist at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute.

About two-thirds of Americans each year try to start regular exercise programs, according to a 2004 Associated Press-Ipsos poll. That contrasts with how many stay with it. Nearly 40 percent of adults said they didn't do physical activity during leisure time in 2002 data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

People trying to fit the new exercise advice into their day don't have to start all at once. It's fine to break your activity into bouts of 10 or 15 minutes. But the idea is still to do at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity -- the equivalent of walking briskly, at about 3.5 miles an hour.

Try walking your dog in the park for 15 minutes in the morning and walking on a treadmill for 15 minutes in the evening, or take a walk at lunchtime, Pi-Sunyer said. "You don't have to change, put on a sweat suit, take a shower. You're not going to work up a big sweat, and you can go back to work," he said.

And it doesn't have to be walking. The panel gave several examples of moderate exercise: Hiking, light gardening or yard work, dancing, golf, bicycling, a light workout of weight lifting. Stretching also counts.

More vigorous activity is even better, the committee said. That could include running or jogging at 5 miles an hour, walking at 4.5 miles an hour, bicycling at 10 miles an hour, swimming, aerobics, heavy yard work such as chopping wood, more vigorous weight lifting or playing basketball.

"The idea here is small steps," said Eric Hentges, director of the Agriculture Department's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, which helped write the guidelines. "Get the 30 minutes first, because independent of any of the other aspects, the 30 minutes alone will have benefits."

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Faith it seems, is not without a touch of irony

That has been shown to be beneficial. If you want the maximum health benefits, that is what is required. I doubt any of my diabetics or obese patients will take this to heart. G

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They didn't mention anything about the benefits of weight training....i really need to find out the outcomes of working out 60 to 90 minutes a day......mostly they talk about doing cardio and walking ....but what about weight training.....

Siddman

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Faith it seems, is not without a touch of irony

Cardio (obviously) good for the heart. Raises HDLs, causes better function of the heart muscle, probably leads to some collateral vascualrization, which can help if you ever have an MI. Weight training is good from the standpoint of bone density. It has also been show to be best for prevention of type 2 diabetes. The better shape your muscle is in, the more glucose it uses and the less insulin resistance there is. Still need lots of cardio to balance everything out. G

__________________
AUC Class of '99
Bored certified
I may be a jerk, but I'm a Jedi jerk like my father.

Some say I look like Buzz Lightyear....
(They're right)

DISCLAIMER: I have no financial stake in ValueMD, or any medical school.

Hey I say do 30mins of cardio everyday, and in the evening to relax, you could do 30mins of yoga, which I think is also a form of exercise. Who says exercise must be monotomous. You could even split some days between yoga training and pilates training. The benefits are amazing.

I agree. I try to get 30 mins of cardio everyday. But I also do my yoga/pilates at night. I believe that it more than makes up for it.

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Rachael

"You can't always get what you want.......But if you try, sometimes you get what you need"

"Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
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You guys are good.....i do 80 minutes of weight training and then after that 15 to 20 minutes of cardio.....if there is any problem with my work out let me know......


Siddman

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Faith it seems, is not without a touch of irony

I think 80 mins of weight training is great! I think any strenth training in addition to the cardio is a good work out

__________________
Rachael

"You can't always get what you want.......But if you try, sometimes you get what you need"

"Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
And I say it’s all right"

More is better with cardio. I would pare your workouts down to 60 minutes, which you should be able to do. Less time in between sets will work the muscle harder, and give more growth. Many of the pros don't work out for more than 60 minutes. Then you can do 40 minutes of cardio. I have found, anecdotally, that weight lifters tend to have higher blood pressures UNLESS they do cardio. Probably has to do with the massive pressures put on the vessel walls with Valsalva, which most people do when tossing heavy weights around. Aerobic exercise decreases vascular resistance, and improves endothelieal function. That is good. Just one schmucks opinion. G

__________________
AUC Class of '99
Bored certified
I may be a jerk, but I'm a Jedi jerk like my father.

Some say I look like Buzz Lightyear....
(They're right)

DISCLAIMER: I have no financial stake in ValueMD, or any medical school.

Cool.....i will try to follow your advise.....i myself think that i am doing too much weight lifting and less cardio......have to increase my cardio time...thank you

Siddman

__________________
Faith it seems, is not without a touch of irony