Get in a sweat to get fit say experts

Health experts say that in order to gain any benefit from exercise people need to get in a sweat.

They say current guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO) that say 30 minutes of gentle exercise each day is enough to sustain a minimum level of fitness, is misleading advice and could encourage people to do too little exercise.

The experts from the American College of Sports Medicine say in order to remain healthy people need to do at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise five days a week, or 20 minutes of vigorous exercise, such as jogging, three days a week.

The sports scientists are concerned that the official advice to do 30 minutes of gentle exercise each day is being misconstrued to include a mere stroll to the car.

They say there is confusion about what is the ideal amount and intensity of exercise to improve health.

Experts all agree that exercise is beneficial to the health and recent research by scientists at Queen's University, Belfast, found that walking for half an hour on just three days a week gave similar fitness and blood pressure benefits to walking for 30 minutes five times a week.

The sports scientists include experts on a high-level committee in the States who are considered to be world leaders in public health.

They have been involved in the development of new physical activity guidelines for U.S. citizens and their recommendations in 1995 were adopted by the WHO and by the UK government.

The team now stress that adults need to top up their routine activities, such as casual walking and housework, with structured exercise and the new advice includes the following guidelines for adults aged 18- 65 :-

30 minutes of moderate exercise on five days of the week or 20 minutes of vigorous exercise on three days of the week or a combination of the moderate and vigorous exercise goals plus two weekly sessions of activity (weight training) to maintain muscle strength and endurance.

The experts say people can do short bouts of exercise to count towards their weekly goals, but these must last for at least 10 minutes; fast walking or heavy-duty gardening would be considered moderate-intensity exercise, but the emphasises is on breaking into a sweat and raising the heart rate.

They say that even more exercise than this may have further benefits, however some research has also shown that too much exercise can also be damaging to the body.

The sports scientists say that some people including pregnant women and those aged 65 or older might be advised to do slightly less exercise and modify the type of activities they do.

Critics say the recommendations are over-ambitious and will only deter an increasingly overweight population who do not have the time or money for the gym and healthy habits built into daily life are a more sustainable idea.