A couple of days ago I was watching a commercial for a new brand of fitness centers that have sprung up all over Bangalore. The mantra was “Workout to lose weight post-Diwali”. Well, I chuckled at the thought of pain after pleasure; workout after eating all those sweets, but at the same time is losing weight the only reason we need to work out?
Apparently not, A Canadian Study recently published in The Lancet magazine found that just 30 minutes of physical activity 5 days a week, could present 1 in 20 cases of cardiovascular diseases and 1 in 12 cases of deaths worldwide.
The amazing fact was this was irrespective of habits, medical history, family history, ethnicity, and backgrounds. The study was conducted with more than 130,000 participants from 17 countries (Including India) in the age group of 30-70 years.
The risk reduction was almost 28% for death overall and 20% for death due to cardiovascular diseases, as per the study. With increased levels of activity, more than 750 minutes a week, the risk reduction was even more.
The WHO recommends moderate aerobic activity for almost 150 minutes in a week and also recommends weight training at least 2 a week.
On searching further I came across this interesting video on YouTube. Published by Vox, it gives a good reason why exercise does not lead to weight loss but look on the bright side, it will definitely reduce your chances of having a heart attack.