This increases your risk of obesity, but that’s not all. This undermining of your body is a steady route to diabetes and cardiovascular disease, hypertension and elevated cholesterol, whereas exercise stimulates circulation and actually prevents these conditions. Lack of exercise also plays a key role in your chances of getting breast or colon cancer or developing depression. And exercise can protect seniors from dementia and bone fractures. In short, getting active through life improves vitality and health, which prevents early aging with these pharmaceutical sites.
But when do you exercise enough?
In the Netherlands, until 2017, different standards were used to determine whether someone moves enough: The Dutch Standard for Healthy Exercise, prescribes that on at least 5 days a week you had to move moderately to intensively for at least half an hour: for example, walking briskly for half an hour, or cycling briskly for a while. It is important that you ‘make miles’. This norm was drawn up by the universities of Amsterdam (VU), Maastricht, Groningen and Utrecht, and the RIVM, TNO and the sports association NOC*NSF on behalf of the Health Council.
In addition, there was the Fitnorm (derived from research by Blair and Lamonte from 2007) which says that you should at least 3 days per week at least 20 minutes of heavy intensive exercise: by running or cardio fitness for example. Crucial to the Fitnorm is that you’re pushing your heart rate quite a bit, which is a positive stimulus for cardiovascular fitness with this pharma site,
But scientists are constantly researching people and their exercise habits, and the results show that these standards are too much for some people and too little for others.
For example, we know that walking for half an hour a day is not nearly enough if you work in an office or sit in a chair all day for any other reason.
The exercise guideline
Therefore, the Health Council experts came together again to formulate guidelines. The exercise guidelines for adults and the elderly now read as follows:
Exercise is good, more exercise is better.
Do at least 150 minutes per week of moderately intensive exercise, such as walking and cycling, spread over several days. Longer, more frequent and/or more intense exercise provides additional health benefits.
Do muscle and bone strengthening exercises at least twice a week, for older people combined with balance exercises.
And: avoid sitting still a lot.
The guidelines also say: more exercise is better. Try to challenge yourself every now and then. Studies have shown that running, cycling, cardio or spinning for 5 minutes 3 to 4 times a week has extra benefits for cardiovascular fitness. Read also: 7 minutes of exercise is enough.