Active Living

People often underestimate the cardiovascular and psychological benefits of active living. Unless they've blocked off a specific workout session, many don't regard activity throughout the day as exercise.

A recent study published in Medicine Science Sports and Exercise (2002) compared fitness, cardiovascular risk factors, and psychological well-being between two groups of previously sedentary individuals. One group took brisk 30-minute walks, five days a week, while the other group took three 10-minute walks per day, for five days a week. Over a six-week period, the three 10-minute bouts of walking proved to be as effective in improving cardiovascular risk and mood as the continuous 30-minute walks. So the next time you briskly walk to the corner health food store, or pick up your heels for a 10-minute walk to the bus stop, think about the benefits you are accumulating. Exercise was never so easy.