Exercising is really important for our health. The results of many studies on exercise also reveal this. In this article, I will try to focus on some urban legends that we ‘know’ as scientific facts. However, I will point out that exercise alone is not enough and our diet is also important in losing weight.
There are tons of evidence that the exercises we do are important for keeping our bodies and minds healthy. Exercising alone is not enough to lose weight and have a healthy body. That’s why we should pay attention to nutrition. If you’re looking to lose weight this year, it’s probably a good idea to take a close look at your diet. But remember that exercise should still be an important part of your life. On the other hand, the results of a study published in Current Biology revealed that doing a lot of exercises did not have much effect on calorie burn after a certain stage. The results of the study showed that the most physically active people expend the same number of calories each day as those who are only moderately active. Men and women aged 25–45 years who participated in the study tended to metabolically adapt to increased physical activity rather than linearly increasing total energy expenditure in response to physical activity. Thus, the expected increase in daily energy production did not materialize. What this research tells those who want to lose weight is that too much exercise will not lead to much weight loss.
On the other hand, we must not forget that exercise is super important. A long-term study from Sweden shows this very well: individuals with a more physically active lifestyle have an almost 60% lower risk of developing anxiety disorders over a 21-year follow-up period. The association between a physically active lifestyle and a lower risk of anxiety has been observed in both men and women.
Another urban legend is that it takes 10,000 steps a day to stay healthy and fit.
In research conducted at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, scientists found that taking 6,000 to 8,000 steps each day is enough for people to stay healthy. The study concluded that taking 6,000 to 8,000 steps per day reduced the risk of premature death by 54% in people aged 60 and over.
One of the researchers, Dr Amanda Paluch said: “What we saw was this gradual reduction in risk as the steps increased until the level dropped and the leveling occurred at different step values for older and younger adults.”
On the other hand, the necessity of taking 10,000 steps a day is not based on any scientific fact. The 10,000 steps legend was first used in an advertising campaign in Japan in 1964 to sell pedometers.
Indeed, most of the scientific studies conducted to try to test whether 10,000 steps a day are optimal for health are relatively arbitrary. They compare people who take 10,000 steps a day to those who take much smaller steps, such as 3,000 or 5,000, and then measure calories burned, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels.
“This number continues to rise because of the way research studies are designed,” says Prof Catrine Tudor-Locke of the Center for Personalized Health Monitoring at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. “So, the study might find that 10,000 helped you lose more than 5,000 pounds, and then the media might see it and report, ‘Yes, you should take 10,000 steps,’ but it could also be because the study only tested two numbers.”
The emphasis on the importance of taking many steps and exercising for a healthy life has also inspired many mobile fitness applications. The most popular of these applications are Fitlich and STEPN. It is possible to earn tokens by walking and doing sports through these mobile fitness applications.
Conclusion
Most of the time, the facts of science and tabloid news contradict each other. This becomes more evident in situations such as weight gain or loss. For this reason, it is a logical choice not to believe the news heard or read first-hand. No matter how big the source of the news is, we need to make an effort to research and reach the truth. Besides, it is also important to check the news presented as scientific facts, if possible. Ultimately, this is about the health and happiness of all of us.
References:
- https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(15)01577-8
- https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.714014/full
- https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/sep/03/watch-your-step-why-the-10000-daily-goal-is-built-on-bad-science
- https://neurosciencenews.com/anxiety-exercise-19292/
This article is an excerpt from by Pierre Diderot | May, 2022 | Medium
