Twenty minutes of aerobic exercise

Taking 20 minutes a day to do moderate-intensity aerobic exercise is the most cost-effective health investment we can find. Whether it is fat loss, stabilizing blood sugar, improving sleep, or relieving emotions, the benefits far exceed all the "no time" excuses you find for these 20 minutes. It is even better than the inefficient exercise that many people do for an hour.

Don’t think I’m bluffing. When I was working on an Internet operation project for the past two years, I would get home almost before 9 o’clock every day. It would be 11 o’clock in a blink of an eye while I was slumped on the sofa watching short videos. I would lie down and toss and turn, and my mind would be filled with unfinished needs. My whole body would be swollen. Later, Fa Xiao, a fitness practitioner, pressed his head and asked: Even if you go downstairs and walk around the community twice, it will only take 20 minutes, and you don't have to take an extra step. At first I thought it was troublesome and thought that these two steps would be of no use. But after a week of walking, I felt really good. I went home, took a shower and fell asleep. I didn’t even have messy dreams about work. I weighed myself in the second week and lost 2 pounds. During that time, I didn’t even quit drinking two cups of bubble milk tea a week. It was all thanks to these 20 minutes.

Someone is definitely going to argue: "That's not right. I saw a blogger saying that aerobic exercise requires more than 30 minutes to start burning fat. Isn't 20 minutes just a waste of effort?" ”This statement is really an old almanac that is about to be passed down. In the early years of sports science, it was indeed measured that the proportion of fat energy supply will gradually exceed that of glycogen 20 minutes after the beginning of exercise. However, this does not mean that fat will not be burned in the first 20 minutes. It is just that the proportion is lower. The total consumption is there, so there is no reason to exercise in vain. A meta-analysis covering 1,200 samples published in "Sports Medicine" last year is more realistic: people who usually do not exercise are divided into three groups, one group does moderate-intensity aerobics for 20 minutes a day, one group does 45 minutes each time, and the other group does not move at all. After 12 weeks, the body fat of the two exercise groups decreased, There was almost no statistical difference in the increase in resting metabolic rate. More importantly, the percentage of people in the 20-minute group who persisted was 37% higher than that in the 45-minute group. After all, if you ask a person who is usually too lazy to go downstairs to exercise for an hour every day, it is really not as easy to execute as 20 minutes.

When it comes to this, some muscle gainers will definitely frown: "Will a short period of aerobic exercise cause muscle loss? I don’t want to lose the two pounds of muscle I finally built. ”This issue has been quarreling in the fitness circle for almost ten years. One group says that aerobic exercise will break down muscles and should not be touched during the muscle-building period. The other group says that low-intensity aerobic exercise can actually improve recovery efficiency. Each has its own reasons. I checked out the latest guidelines from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), and it actually makes it very clear: As long as your daily protein intake reaches 1.6-2.2g per kilogram of body weight, 20 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobics will not cause muscle loss at all. Instead, it can improve your cardiorespiratory capacity, allowing you to carry more sets and recover faster when practicing strength. Several friends around me who compete in bodybuilding competitions will add 20 minutes of fasting brisk walking every day during the preparation period, and none of them have lost their arm circumference. On the contrary, they are in very stable condition during liposuction, and they have never been anxious about cardio muscle loss.

You really don’t have to get a fitness card to do these 20 minutes of aerobics, you can completely fit it into the gaps in your life. Go out 20 minutes early in the morning and walk to the next subway stop early, which will save you the trouble of traffic jams. ； Don't lie on the table and drool during your lunch break. Go downstairs and walk around the office building twice to soak up the sun. You can even drink one less cup of coffee in the afternoon. I personally tested it before and found that if I walked for 20 minutes after lunch, my yawns were reduced by half when doing data reports in the afternoon. It is more effective than iced American style. Friends with bad knees don’t have to worry. You don’t have to run or jump. You can do elliptical machines, swimming, or even sit and do leg kicks. As long as your heart rate can reach (220-your age)*60%, which is about the point where you can talk to people normally but can’t sing a song smoothly, you are considered qualified.

Of course, don’t be too eager for quick success. I once had a colleague who saw that I was useful after walking for two weeks. On the first day, he wore canvas shoes and ran for 20 minutes. The next day, his knees hurt so much that he couldn’t even go downstairs. It was really unnecessary. Just start walking slowly in the first week, as long as you can keep up with the walking pace. There is no need to pursue speed and intensity. If you can persist, it is better than anything else.

In fact, many people are always struggling with "what kind of exercise should I do and how long will it take for it to be effective?" They have dozens of fitness videos in their favorites and haven't clicked on them once in half a year. It's better to change into comfortable shoes now and walk downstairs for 20 minutes to try. If you think it's useless, you might as well stop walking next time. You can't lose anything anyway, right?