You can improve the state of your health by
simply including ten minutes of exercise a day!
According to US researchers, even women who
only exercised 10 minutes a day saw significant improvements in quality of life
– they had more energy, less anxiety and were simply happier.
The study is among the first to examine how
exercise can improve the quality of life of postmenopausal women who were
extremely out of shape but otherwise healthy, said Dr. Timothy Church of the Pennington Biomedical
Research Center
in Baton Rouge , Louisiana
"This is by far the largest exercise
trial which has ever looked at quality of life," Church said in a
telephone interview. The results, which were presented at the American Heart
Association's Conference on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism in Colorado Springs , Colorado
That study found women who exercised 10 to
30 minutes saw improvements in fitness. The latest findings look at other
measures, such as mental health and social functioning.
The researchers studied 430 sedentary women
past menopause with an average age of 57 who were assigned to one of three
exercise groups: those who exercised 70 minutes a week; 135 minutes a week and
190 minutes a week.
A fourth group did not have an organised
exercise program and served as a control group.
At the beginning of the study, the women
were asked a host of questions about their health status, their physical
health, including any pain or physical limitations, and their mental health,
including whether they were nervous, depressed, peaceful or happy.
After six months, the researchers found
women who participated in the highest exercise group saw the greatest
improvements in most quality-of-life scales.
But even the women in the lowest exercise
group saw significant improvements in general health, vitality, emotional
health and social functioning.
"That's basically just 10 minutes of
daily walking at a brisk pace," Church said of the low exercise group.
He said the women in the study only lost an
average of 3 to 6 lbs (1.5 to 2.5 kg).
"These changes in quality of life were
not driven by weight. These changes were driven by changes in activity,"
he said.
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