Health is wealth. It appears that men have to work out more than women in order to see benefits from regular exercise.
A national study found that women who exercise regularly (2 1/2 hours of moderate exercise, 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week) had a 24% lower risk of death over the study period, compared to women who didn’t exercise.
Men who exercised regularly were only 15% less likely to die than men who didn’t.
“Women got the same benefit at lower levels of physical activity,” said a co-author of the study, Dr. Martha Gulati, the director of preventive cardiology at Cedars-Sinai’s Smidt Heart Institute in L.A.
It’s All About Improved Cardiovascular Health
That’s a good focus of regular exercise. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, regular exercise “improves the muscles’ ability to pull oxygen out of the blood, reducing the need for the heart to pump more blood to the muscles.”
Again, men need to do a little more to reap the benefits.
The study found that women who exercised regularly had a 36% lower risk of dying from a cardiovascular issue, compared to men who exercised regularly, who only had a 14% lower risk. Women lifted less, but regular weight lifting (one session per week) was associated with a 30% less risk of women dying from cardiovascular issues. A 19% lower risk of death overall.
The same regiment lowered cardiovascular death risks for men by only 11%.
What To Do With this Data
Suggestions of regular exercise are always valid. That’ll never change. The Department of Health and Human Services suggests that adults get 150 minutes of exercise per week, including two days of muscle-strengthening activity.
Experts are concerned that women do not have that kind of time. “Women are busy. Women work. Women usually take the bulk of family responsibilities — whether that’s children, whether that’s elderly parents — and by the time the day finishes, there’s very little time,” Gulati said.
Men are also out and about often. Adult life has certainly ramped up its responsibilities in the digital age. It’s about finding the time to exercise. “Rather than talking about 150 minutes a week, the way that we should be saying it is: What can you fit in?” Gulati said.
Let’s keep active on this ever-spinning globe.