Two Minutes of Weekly Intense Physical Activity Benefits Seniors: Study

Just two minutes of weekly physical activity helps ward off illnesses and boosts health status of seniors, suggests a research.

Aging is accompanied by a number of health conditions like musculoskeletal problems, diabetes, high blood pressure, irregular heart rate and increased cholesterol levels that affect the physical and mental wellbeing of individuals. Researchers at the Abertay University found older adults, who engaged in two weekly exercise sessions each lasting for one minute, were physically fit, active and had reduced blood pressure levels. Their study assessed health status of people aged between 60 and 73 who were divided into groups- one group took part in 60 seconds of two high-intense training (HIT) sessions with six-second sprints on a stationary bike; and the other group did no exercises.

Participants in the exercising group wore heart rate monitors while doing the sprints. The number of sprints gradually increased from six to ten with one minute of recovery time in between. These subjects achieved significant decline in blood pressure and chances of having a heart attack or stroke.

The guidelines by the American Heart Association recommend adults to undertake 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of intense physical activity every week. Individuals with high blood pressure and cholesterol must perform at least 40 minutes of moderate to intense aerobic activity to cut the risk of dying from cardiac arrest and ischemic stroke. But, elderly people are less likely to adhere to these health guidelines owing to the demand of everyday living habits, lack of time and pre-existing ailments like body pain and illnesses.

"The ageing process is generally looked on quite negatively by society, with everyone knowing that you find it more difficult to carry out day-to-day activities like standing up from your chair, or carrying your shopping, as you get older," said John Babraj, study author and researcher at the Abertay University in Dundee, reports the Telegraph.

"Two minutes is all you need. It is quick and easy. It doesn't require seven days a week exercise that the current Government guidelines promote. You can do a little where you give your all-out effort for a minute, broken into small intervals. You get big improvements and you don't need to do it every day, just once or twice a week, " Babraj told the Express.Co.UK.

More information is available online in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.