PARIS, 28 January — Every day, we do things that help save lives, from brisk walking and dog walking to cleaning the house and playing with the kids, according to an Australian study.
By doing these daily activities as part of your VILPA method, or more actively, you can stay fit.
Good news for those who don’t like sports or don’t necessarily have time for long workouts.New study from the University of Sydney published in the journal natural Sciencesuggest that performing several short, brisk 1- to 2-minute bursts of physical activity each day may reduce the risk of premature death.
And these bursts of activity performed as part of our daily tasks are known as VILPA, which stands for Vigorous Intermittent Lifestyle Physical Activity.
Researchers found that practicing three to four one-minute sessions of VILPA daily reduced cardiovascular disease-related deaths by 49% and all-cause and cancer-related mortality by 40%. The more sessions per day, the greater the benefits.
Therefore, 11 sessions per day reduced the risk of cardiovascular death by 65% and the risk of cancer-related death by 49%.
To conduct this study, researchers looked at the activity of 25,000 participants who had an average age of 62 and had never exercised.
Participants had to wear activity trackers on their wrists for seven days. Researchers also used health data that allowed participants to be followed for seven years.
The advantage of the VILPA method is that it can be easily incorporated into anyone’s daily life. Many of the activities and tasks we perform in our daily lives can be compared to a form of exercise.
“This could be like playing with the kids. [that] I see the bus is just about to leave so I have to walk very fast to catch the bus. You may live in an apartment block and have to carry that purchase up the stairs.
It’s like a little explosion that happens in everyday life,” explains study co-author Mark Hammer, a professor at University College London. Guardian.
“Increasing the intensity of your daily activity does not require time commitment, preparation, joining a club, or special skills.
Just walk faster or do household chores with a little more energy,” added lead author Emmanuel Stamatakis, a professor at the University of Sydney, in a news release.
From this perspective, VILPA appears to be a more accessible and inclusive way to help people stay active. — ETX Studio