Exercise is an integral part of any healthy lifestyle and it has been known to be of extreme help in the prevention of various adverse health conditions. Coupled with a healthy and balanced diet, exercise can help prevent a litany of diseases and can even increase a person's life expectancy by quite a significant amount.
Forbes recently published an article presenting five prevalent diseases that getting enough exercise can potentially ward off. Among these diseases is breast cancer, which is one of the leading causes of mortality among women. Next on the list is bowel cancer, which is again one of the most prevalent types of cancer. Next is diabetes, which is rising in terms of incidences year after year. Finally, exercise can also reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.
The most accurate way to measure exercise activity is through METs or metabolic equivalents. People who undergo extensive amounts of high intensity exercise often rack up METs in the thousands every week (somewhere in the region of 8,000 METs in the study). Meanwhile, those who get minimal amounts of exercise measure in at about 600 METs per week.
"People getting the highest amounts of exercise in the study (at least 8,000 METs/week) compared to people with the lowest levels (less than 600 METs/week), had 14% reduced risk for breast cancer, 20% reduced risk for colon cancer, 28% reduced risk for diabetes, 25% reduced risk for heart disease and 26% reduced risk for stroke," says the results of the meta-analysis published in the BMJ.
Going for 8,000 METs a week is not necessary and can even be dangerous due to the increased risk of injury. The results of the study also showed "diminishing returns" after the 3,000 to 4,000 MET mark. This means that we must aim to maintain a healthy level of physical activity in our way of everyday living.
