Physical inactivity and low levels of fitness represent strong indicators for increased mortality. Yet, this fact is often underappreciated by the medical community and the patients they serve. Individuals with low fitness also have higher rates of surgical complications, have higher annual healthcare costs, and are two to three times more likely to die prematurely than their risk-factor-matched, fitter counterparts. Among individuals with elevated cholesterol levels, the combination of cholesterol-lowering drug therapy and higher levels of fitness results in substantially lower mortality than either intervention alone. Moreover, regular exercisers who are hospitalized with chest pain also have much better short-term outcomes.
This unique booklet summarizes relevant research studies detailing the profound and favorable impact that regular physical activity and higher levels of fitness have on health outcomes related to cardiovascular disease, cancer, stroke, dementia, and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), with specific reference to decreased hospitalization and mortality. Moreover, this booklet presents contemporary exercise training recommendations and research-based thresholds for optimizing health outcomes, including the escalating population of older adults (>65 years). For example, consider the following:
- Accumulating multiple intermittent daily bouts of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity lasting just one minute or longer can promote significant health benefits.
- Although 10,000 steps per day has been traditionally recommended, for sedentary people, survival benefits start with just 2,500 to 4,000 steps per day. For most people, maximum survival and cardiovascular benefits occur between 7,000 and 8,000 steps per day.
- For inactive, unfit people, major survival benefits occur by exercising at 3 or more times resting energy expenditure, which corresponds to walking at 3.0 mph, zero grade, or 2.0 mph, 3.5 percent grade.
- One of the five key characteristics of populations that routinely live to be 95 to 115 years is that they are physically active every day.
Target Audience
How Much Exercise Is Enough? was written for the benefit of middle-aged and older adults, including: health-fitness enthusiasts; patients with or at increased risk for chronic disease; exercise professionals, nurses, physicians, physician assistants, cardiac rehab specialists, diabetes educators, and patients; as well as the 200+ million overweight and/or unfit Americans seeking a longer, higher quality of life.
Authors
In this booklet, three nationally recognized experts in their fields, Barry Franklin, PhD, Cindy Haskin-Popp, MS, and Peter Kokkinos, PhD, share ~120 years of collective health-promotion/clinical/epidemiologic experience, detailing the favorable impact of regular physical activity and improved fitness on varied health outcomes and the exercise thresholds that can achieve them, sprinkled with interwoven threads of humor, hope, and optimism.
Two-Legged Medicine
Look down (at your feet) and you’ll find two of the most powerful health-promoting, lifespan-extending, and anti-aging therapies available today! The bottom line? Your two feet may be the single best antidote for combatting chronic and infectious diseases, all at a whopping cost of just minutes a day!
WARNING
Reading this booklet and following the exercise recommendations can cause significant decreases in the incidence of heart disease, cancer, dementia, stroke, COVID-19, and premature mortality. Accordingly, the approach described may represent one of the safest, most effective, and readily accessible interventions for combatting chronic and infectious diseases.
