The recommended amount of exercise we should all be getting is 150 minutes of exercise per week.
This can be easier said than done when our busy jobs involve sitting at a desk for most of the day.
But incorporating that exercise into activities we need to do around the house and yard not only helps us achieve this goal but can also be fun.
Now a long term study covering results from around the world has shown one favorite leisure activity is just as good as spending time at the gym. And better still it doesn’t cost a thing.
The study carried out by researchers from China, Texas and North Carolina incorporated 11 years of data and involved almost 90,000 participants.
Researchers looked at leisure time physical activities such as gardening, dancing or going for a walk and found fascinating results just from those who did a small amount of this kind of activity each week, as reported by Better Homes and Gardens.
Those that carried out as little as 10 minutes a week and as much as 59 minutes a week of gardening reduced their risks of suffering cardiovascualr disease and cancer by 18 percent.
Reduce falls and stress in the elderly
More physical activity had better results with150 to 299 minutes of physical activity each week leading to a 31 percent decrease in all-cause mortality.
As well as being free, compared to a gym membership, gardening has also been linked to a decrease in depression, anxiety and body mass index.
For the elderly it can also help reduce falls, stress and the need for medications.
Gardening has to be more fun than going to the gym, but what do you think? Feel free to leave your views on our Facebook page and don’t forget to share this story.
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