You may never win gold in the marathon but experts say you could at least walk toward better health.
Researchers say it may take far less exercise than people had thought to lower the risk of heart disease especially for the highest risk group, middle-aged men. They want to encourage people to literally take the first step.
“Doing something is better than doing nothing,” says epidemiologist Steven N. Blair of the Institute for Aerobics Research in Dallas. “Standing is better than sitting, moving around is better than standing.”
“Lower intensity exercise brisk walking on a regular basis --- provides a fair amount of benefits,” says Dr. William L. Haskell, deputy director of the Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention, in California.
Blair and Haskell agree that the highest-risk men are those who do virtually nothing.