|
I am reliably informed that there are people out there who enjoy cardio. My officemate claims to like nothing more than spending hours running up and down fells in various windswept bits of the country, and can talk enthusiastically about ideas like “the pain cave”. Although I try to drag myself out for a couple of short runs every week, for me it’s a bit like brushing your teeth: something you do because it’s good for you.
My favourite sport is bouldering, which involves brief bursts of hard work followed by several minutes spent sitting on the mats chatting to your mates. So imagine my delight when
I was reporting this week’s column,
which is all about how exactly that sort of activity—infrequent but reasonably intense—might bring measurable health benefits all by itself.
To be fair, I don’t think anyone has studied bouldering directly. (If they have, send me the paper!) Instead, the work has focused on something called “VILPAs”, which stands for Vigorous Intermittent Lifestyle Physical Activity. That means running for a bus every now and then, or lugging some heavy shopping up the stairs: the sort of things that are hard work, but don’t last long, and which you do now and then in the course of everyday living.
The upshot is that even this relatively minimal level of activity makes a noticeable difference to people’s long-term health, and reduces their chance of an early death. It is also an interesting example of the sort of finding that would have been almost impossible to spot just a few years ago. The work depends on people wearing super-accurate activity trackers that can replace unreliable self-reporting with hard data. It is often science that enables new technology. This work is a nice example of the reverse.
How do you like to keep fit? Email us your exercise advice to
wellinformed@economist.com.
In last week’s newsletter about shut-eye, we provided the wrong links to two papers. Sorry about that. Although one is behind a paywall, the paper in Nature is
free to read.
Thank you to everyone who sent in tips for a
good night’s sleep.
Some of your suggestions included listening to podcasts, reducing screen time, and not drinking caffeine. Bonnie in Canada seems to have her bedtime routine nailed: “A silk eye mask and custom earplugs do the trick. And if there should be a worrisome awake period around 3am, dim light for reading and a half-cup of warm milk can make one drowsy in about 40 minutes. Bedding matters: cotton sheets, wool blankets, cotton blankets. No synthetics. Period.”
Catarina has a different solution for insomnia. She chooses to read The Economist. “When I wake up in the middle of the night, I typically manage to read a few articles (not your column specifically, don’t worry),” she says. “Then after maybe 30-45 minutes, I go back to sleep. It’s not that I don’t love reading the magazine…It’s just that focusing on the articles seems to take my mind off the never-ending to-do lists that would otherwise prevent me from sleeping. I also feel a weird sense of accomplishment.” We’ll take that as a compliment, Catarina. See you next week. | 
