Study Buddy (Challenger): Shorter, more intense bouts of exercise may be as healthy as 30-minute daily workouts
- Research suggests that a daily stroll, walking faster than 4km/h, can help lower the risk of cardiovascular disease
- This page is for students who want to take their reading comprehension to the next level with difficult vocabulary and questions to test their inference skills
Research suggests that even a brisk walk every day can help support cardiovascular health. Photo: ShutterstockContent provided by British Council
Read the following text, and answer questions 1-9 below:
[1] You may have read that to stay fit and healthy, you need about 30 minutes of exercise each day, at least five days a week. New research suggests that the time we need to spend on daily workouts could be less than that. But there’s a catch.
[2] Edvard Sagelv, a researcher at the Arctic University of Norway in Tromso, was part of a team that found being sedentary more than 12 hours a day was associated with a 38 per cent higher mortality risk. This was only the case for individuals who managed less than 22 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day, however, and it is relatively easy to achieve that minimum by taking a brisk walk.
[3] “In research on physical activity, fast walking is estimated to be four kilometres an hour,” he said. Although it may not seem like a lot, it depends on a person’s fitness level. Still, “it is intriguing that 4km/h – a pace achievable for the vast majority of the population – is what it takes to really invest in your physical health.”
[4] Shane O’Mara, a neuroscientist and professor of experimental brain research at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland, is the author of a book on the power of walking called In Praise of Walking. O’Mara said that for a walk to positively affect your heart, which will then impact your brain and your circulation, you need to “feel it”. To feel the work your body is doing, you need to walk at 5.5 to 6 kilometres an hour. If you wear a fitness tracker, aim for more than 100 steps a minute.
[5] A recent study published by researchers at Cambridge University in the UK found that just 11 minutes a day of moderate-intensity physical activity – a brisk walk qualifies – was enough to lower the risk of diseases such as heart disease, stroke and a number of cancers.
[6] Lead author Soren Brage was not surprised by the findings. “Doing some physical activity is better than doing none. This is also a good starting position – if you find that 75 minutes a week is manageable, then you could try stepping it up gradually to the full recommended amount,” he said. The point is that a relatively short period of high-intensity exercise isn’t just better than nothing; it has a measurable and positive impact on health.
[7] Cardiovascular diseases like heart disease and stroke are a leading cause of ill health and death globally. Physical activity – particularly moderate-intensity activity – is known to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and other ailments, including cancer. And, as more than one doctor has said, all exercise is good for the brain.
[8] The idea that you can squeeze meaningful exercise into a brief window of time is appealing. But the key is intensity. As Brage says: “You have to increase intensity if you want to decrease time spent on activity.”
Source: South China Morning Post, January 14
Questions
1. Paragraph 1 introduces …
A. a new perspective on the recommended amount of exercise for good health.
B. a novel way of staying fit that does not require any form of exercise.
C. research on the intensity of exercise needed to stay fit.
D. none of the above
2. Find a word in paragraph 2 that means “to spend a lot of time sitting down”.
3. What is the recommended pace for fast walking according to paragraph 3?
4. What does the phrase “feel it” in paragraph 4 refer to?
5. What are the benefits of a brisk walk according to paragraph 5?
6. Paragraph 6 suggests that …
A. short bursts of moderate-intensity exercise can be more effective than longer sessions.
B. one should aim for a 75 minute moderate-intensity workout daily to improve overall health.
C. short bursts of moderate-intensity exercise can be just as effective as longer sessions. here are health benefits in even small amounts of high-intensity exercise.
D. exceeding 75 minutes of strenuous exercise can, in some cases, lead to negative health impacts.
7. What is the main concern addressed in paragraph 7, and how does physical activity tackle this problem?
8. In paragraph 7, what are two other benefits of exercise beyond cardiovascular health?
9. What is the essential factor for making shorter workouts effective according to paragraph 8?
Answers
1. A
2. sedentary
3. 4 kilometres per hour
4. the physical effort our body puts into a walk (accept all similar answers)
5. It helps lower the risk of diseases such as heart disease, stroke and a number of cancers.
6. C
7. The main concern addressed in the text is the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and their impact on global health, the risks of which can be reduced with moderate-intensity activity. (accept all similar answers)
8. It reduces the risk of other ailments, including cancer, and is good for the brain.
9. Intensity is the key to making shorter workouts effective.