New Exercise Guidelines

David Mendosa Living With It Medical Journalist Living with Diabetes and Author of Fitness and Photography for Fun, www.mendosa.com/fitnessblog After earning a B.A. with honors from the University of California,... Send Message Subscribe: David Mendosa

Thursday, August 02, 2007
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Even for something as fundamental as exercise, the experts are still fine-tuning their recommendations. And it’s more than just fine-tuning. They are saying that we should do more and more.They now go so far as to explicitly say that “more is better.” Who is this “they” ...

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Isn&#39;t 90 minutes just needed to sustain weight loss
Bernard Farrell
Tuesday, August 07, 2007 at 02:09 PM

David

Thanks for pointing out these new guidelines. Initally I was surprised at the recommendations because that's seems like a lot of exercise time each day.

But when I visited the first link that you provided, I see three levels of exercise. 30 minutes most days to reduce the risk of chronic disease. The highest level is to sustain weight loss and is 60-90 minutes most days.

Are we reading these the same way? Or is it just that your goals are different to mine? I'm more interested in maintaining my level of health. So far I'm blessed that I don't have to worry about weight loss.

re: 90 Minutes
David Mendosa
Thursday, August 09, 2007 at 06:39 PM
Dear Bernard,

Yes, but. It was "In 1996 [that] the Surgeon General set a low bar, telling us that we need a total of 30 minutes of moderate physical activity on most days of the week." I didn't provide a link for that, because I can't find it online any more.

exercise
john fragale
Saturday, August 11, 2007 at 01:03 AM
i have read that one should get exercise in groups of 10 minutes minimum to derive the most benefits? I welcome your thoughts.

re: exercise
David Mendosa
Saturday, August 11, 2007 at 09:09 AM
Dear John,

I have read the same think and it makes sense, when we are talking about aerobic exercise, like walking, hiking, treatmilling, etc. But when we are talking about anaerobic exercise like weight lifting, that figure probably doesn't apply. It's the number of repetitions that count then.

re: re: exercise
Anonymous
Sunday, January 06, 2008 at 12:58 AM

Thanks for your reply. As a disabled person i use an old cardioglide to exercise both sides.my left is the crippled one. Ialso noticed that exercise/wearing a splint on my 'bad' side relieved a lot of pain & enabled me to cancel carpel tunnel surgery on that side. Do you have any other ideas for those like me.(walking is not good as 1 leg is shorter & hurts my back
Sincerely, John

re: re: re: exercise
David Mendosa
Sunday, January 06, 2008 at 11:23 AM
The best exercise for you would probably be in a swimming pool, I think.

re: re: re: re: exercise
Anonymous
Sunday, January 06, 2008 at 02:40 PM
got no swimming pool or access to one. We have to go w/whats available

Exercise
Dee
Sunday, September 02, 2007 at 01:13 PM
I'm in my 70's and have a sciatic problem. I've had Type 2 Diabetes for a few years. However, just five minutes at my 8 foot countertop (standing back and pushing off 5-6 times, which strengthens my arms, and easy jogging sideways back and forth as I hold on for balance) my sugar goes down 20-25 points immediately. So we don't have to eliminate exercise due to age. Even a little bit will help.

re: Exercise
David Mendosa
Sunday, September 02, 2007 at 07:43 PM
Dear Dee,

Well said! Just about everyone with diabetes, no matter how bad the complications they might have, can do some exercise.