written by john c ashworth, ma, cscs, ces
This morning is a good example. In the spirit of ride your bike to work week, I rode my bike the short three-mile trip to work. Though that doesn't seem like much, I feel like a completely different person this morning.
Why?
Because even that short trip provides a few hills and a jolt to my morning heart rate that changes my physiology in albeit short, but significant ways. New research shows that this "Exercise Snack" I had on the way in to work can help me control my blood sugar and blood pressure and not just for a few hours, but for the entire day. Assuming I combine it with at least a couple more short 10 minute exercise sessions.
According to the New York Times article I read in preparation for tonight's Fitness Friday segment with Leigh Mills on NBC 15 in Madison, WI, scientists have agreed for some time now that breaking up exercise into repeated, short sessions can as beneficial as longer workouts. One example was a study performed in 2012 where people with hypertension were able to control their blood pressure more effectively with three 10 minute walks per day, as opposed to only one 30 minute walk.
In a newer, yet much smaller investigation of nine men and women in New Zealand with confirmed insulin resistance, a pre-cursor to the metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes, blood sugar levels were improved dramatically throughout the day by similar short, 10-minute "snack-sized" workouts performed repeatedly each day.
Here is what was really interesting though...
The blood sugar levels of participants in this study were tested following meals and multiple times through the day on days where they performed varying types of exercise. In all cases, as would be expected, blood sugar levels were improved with exercise. Participants exercised, then ate a meal, and then had their blood sugar tested after the meal and for a 24-hour period following the exercise they performed.
In addition to a steady-state 30-minute walk, the nine subjects in this study came back on two additional occasions and performed 12 minutes of interval training and 12 minutes of interval training accompanied by some moderate strength training exercise. On the days where they performed the interval training and strength training, their blood sugar was not only lower post-meal, but also lower for the entire 24-hour time period following their exercise and meal.
If you've been watching the Fitness Friday segment for any length of time, you will notice a strong trend in the research and in the themes Leigh and I are covering. The message is that if you want to improve your health, lose or maintain your weight, control your blood sugar, blood pressure and other risk factors for disease, you not only need to exercise at least a few days per day at the gym, you also need to get up our of your chair and move regularly throughout the day.
Why?
Because that is how your body is built to work. It needs movement and exercise and when you provide this activity, it does a much more efficient job of keeping you healthy, fit, and vibrant.
-John
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