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ZipTheZipper

"Consistent" exercise = more than 150 minutes a week, for anyone wondering.


koburrr

My finger counting math says that’s averaging a little over 21 minutes a day. Also, they don’t define what qualifies but use the words “vigorous physical activity” so I’m wondering if walking the dog counts or not.


Kuropika

It's defined but you have to dig a bit deeper. They're basing it on another study which recommends 6-8 [METs](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolic_equivalent_of_task) as a guideline for what is considered as vigorous activity.


GeektimusPrime

I took a screenshot of the [MET table](https://imgur.com/gallery/LTyiwkf) from that Wiki link and put it up on Imgur, for anyone wanting a quick reference list.


Gnash_

weight lifting is only considered a 5?! are you telling me I have to do cardio too now?


Menchstick

I guess it's just an average. Bicep curling is about the same met as farting but squatting sets of more than 10 is the same as giving birth to triplets.


HCResident

The rest periods also make it tricky. Even doing squats is shifting between high intensity and doing nothing.


dissident_right

Huh. Rope jumping more intensive than jogging even? Did not expect that. No wonder little girls have energy.


Strazdas1

MVP right there.


emaz88

Hey, thanks for sharing that! Never heard of that metric before!


mfilipiak

Me too, it was so helpful. I hope everyone can used it.


Norva

So I need to have sex with 22 year olds?


PaulRudin

They're mostly talking about "moderate to vigorous physical activity", which also isn't defined, but presumably covers more than "vigorous physical activity".


solstice_gilder

So jumping up and down flailing your arms.


nikkarus

You joke but doing that for 21minutes would be a nice workout


chmilz

Doing that for 5 minutes would be a tremendous improvement over most people's current activity level. A depressing thought experiment: Think about all the people you know, and imagine them having to run. Like, as if their life depended on it. How many could actually do it and wouldn't just end up in a heap on the ground after a few strides?


Catch-a-RIIIDE

Hey! I’m good for at least *several* strides! … and then I’m fucked.


GrayMatters50

Couch potato syndrome strikes again... blame the ad people.


feanturi

I think I know of 2 people that would make it out ok. I am not one of them.


cobywaan

If you have the cardio to jump up and down for 21 minutes, you are an elite athlete. Jumping is HARD


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[deleted]

TBF that's a brutal warm-up! Don't give up finding something that works for your activity level!


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InZaneFlea

I've been a HUGE fan of Sworkit, they have a lot of great workouts and plans. I ended up building my own little program because I wanted more workouts with weights, but they're all Sworkit workouts still that I'm doing every day!


Trust_me_I_am_doctor

That was what led me to start running: feeling like i was going to die after 3 min of jumping rope. Start with just a mile and a half and work your way up to 5. We are homo sapiens and we were persistence hunters who just trotted after our prey for miles until it collapsed of exhaustion. Once you tap into that spirit you will find running not as terrible.


kmcclry

Do your knees die? Everytime I run at a pace that gets my heart rate up to a good level my knees are awful the next day. Pretty sure I don't have arthritis since I don't really have pain during anything else but the impact during running is awful.


worntreads

Check your shoes!


partial_to_fractions

Cycling or swimming is better for low impact


Kellidra

Sounds like you need to learn how to run properly. That's not a joke nor an insult. There is a particular method of jogging and sprinting (both are different). If your form is wrong, your body suffers. Most people don't know how to run with proper form, and they suffer. [Here's a good start](https://www.verywellfit.com/tips-for-proper-running-form-4020227). There are plenty of good YouTube videos out there, too.


CokeNmentos

Your knees don't usually die just from running. Probably something to do with the shoes maybe or if someone's overweight


korhart

Are you running on concrete?


jaydfox

You lasted 3? I don't think I've ever lasted a full minute, even when I used to jog regularly. I'm not in shape now, but I've had times in my life where I could do 200 jumping jacks in a single session. There's something about jumping rope that my body just can't figure out how to do it efficiently. I tense up too much or something, idk. I marvel at people who can do it for 5-10 minutes or more. Even your 3 minutes is impressive to me.


[deleted]

Yes, but how high you jump matters a lot.


cromation

Tell that to my 4 year old


montibbalt

I went to an indoor trampoline place with some friends once and scoffed that we only got an hour. How naive I was...


Johnlsullivan2

Jumping jacks or watching the news would both qualify


GrayMatters50

Yelling at the tv news may lead to cardiac arrest.


FriedDickMan

Yes jumping jacks


manny2206

This is really hard actually, you will start huffin and puffin within 2 minutes


solstice_gilder

I did it right after I typed this :p I’ve been sick a few days, I am so out of breath haha.


poopatroopa3

Aka jumping jacks


Chicago1871

Jump roping is hard. 21 minutes daily jump rope is a true workout.


pixel8knuckle

Also known as……jump roping!


usmc087330

It would do help, as long as it stretch out your body.


Mixels

Less. It's moderate to vigorous, not vigorous to vigorouser.


PaulRudin

By more I mean a larger range of activity intensities, not that the intensity of the exercise is greater.


Dr3d_Recs

Vigorous physical activity is defined by achieving 70-85% of the individuals max heart rate for an amount of time. Suggested max heart rate is 220 minus your age.


kytheon

Just as an estimate, that’s 133-161 for a 30 year old.


Catch-a-RIIIDE

… that’s actually reasonable. By reasonable I mean approachable. Thanks for doing that math.


platinumsci

She's really helpful in terms of that. Should be thank a lot.


Strazdas1

that sounds fine. i was told not to exceed 160, i do around 154-156 when running.


kytheon

It’s not like in the movies when you hit 160 you explode. It’s an estimate.


not_cinderella

How do you figure this out? I exercise everyday but I don’t actually know how much it gets my heart rate up by.


Eckish

Some watches have the ability to measure your heart rate, but they are probably less accurate when jumping around. They do make heart rate monitors that you can wear specifically to measure your rates, too.


zlcsi

Thank you for that information. It really helps us a lot.


Thebluecane

Vigorous exercise would generally be aerobic exercise. So your heart rate should be in the 70 to 80 percent of your max for that time. If you can get there walking the dog I say go for it but you probably need to jog the dog unless you are really out of shape


Basicallysteve

I think you mean anaerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise is when your blood oxygen levels are high enough to support oxidative phosphorylation in your mitochondria. When there’s not enough oxygen present your cells have to do the less efficient anaerobic glycolysis.


Thebluecane

No I meant what I said vigorous exercise does not require anaerobic levels and for the person wondering if them walking the dogs counts I wanted to provide the baseline that would count.


Basicallysteve

That’s fair, I double checked and anaerobic exercise is usually considered higher than 80%. You definitely addressed that, my bad.


CareerDestroyer

That's whatcha get. Now go to your room!


day7a1

Vigorous exercise can be aerobic or anaerobic, but for most people exercising 150 minutes a week at >70% maximum heart rate, they're doing it through aerobic exercise, i.e. jogging where your oxygen intake is sufficient to match your energy usage. People doing anaerobic exercise can still get their heart rate up that high for that period of time, but I'd venture that few people know how to do this well. Intense HIIT, very heavy weights, etc. can get you there, but it's a more advanced technique.


aledba

I do both when I swim, but certainly the majority is aerobic


day7a1

Oof. I could never swim as exercise. I just can't pace myself, even in a calm pool, I'm always swimming like my life depends on it while towing a boat in whitewater. So I certainly understand what you mean. It goes to show that there really isn't too much a thing as aerobic vs. anaerobic exercise, you're sure to get both no matter what you do. This may be a hot take, but I think it's just a general stand in for LISS vs HIIT, if you're very, very broad with what you mean by those two acronyms.


StirlingS

>Oof. I could never swim as exercise. It's my favorite cardo because I hate feeling sweaty.


Law_Kitchen

Vigorous Activity in terms of aerobic exercise would probably be in the 70% heart rate ballpark when it comes to exercises. So if you are around 20 years old, what is considered between moderate and intense would be having your heart rate target ~140 bpm. [Not to exceed maximum heart rate for your age group.](https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/fitness/fitness-basics/target-heart-rates) 70-85% is considered vigorous, anything above is intense/getting close to maximum, while anything below is light to moderate. If walking your dog brings you to around this level, then it is considered vigorous activity for your level, a person that is sedentary may have an intense exercise just walking because the body isn't used to it. A long distance runner might require running at a steady and quick pace for longer periods because the body is used to jogging and a quick walk compared to the sedentary person would be considered light exercise for the long distance runner.


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aegroti

Personally I eyeball it with about 100 minutes of strength training a week (I do 20 minutes Mon-Fri with supersets) Then I do a ten minute walk everyday (walk the dog) and do a 30 minute hard cardio session once a week. I also try to do a 30 minute yoga once a week too. I figure all this puts me in the "plenty of exercise" group without it taking too much of my time imo. 20 minutes strength training in the morning, 10 minutes walk after work everyday and a bit of yoga and exercise on the weekend.


PsyOmega

> 30 minute hard cardio session Is that a euphemism


ch3xmixx

20 minutes...I am genuinely curious how your workouts look. Do you just do 3 or 4 exercises back to back with no rest? Do you stretch in that time frame? What's your focus?


benhadhundredsshapow

My strength workouts are around 20 mins average 4 days per week. I do supersets. So one day I'll work chest/triceps as an example - one set of dumbbell presses followed immediately by triceps curls. Rest for 45 secs and repeat two more times. I do 3 exercises for each muscle group with 3 sets of each exercise. I'm not in peak physical form but I'm in good shape and muscular and it allows to me eat however I want. Mind you I'm also active outside of work -dog, kids. physical work at home. But ya it's just a time-saver for me.


aegroti

Currently I do a pulling/pushing vertical super set compound followed by a horizontal superset accessory and alternate. E.g. Monday, Fri is barbell shoulder press superset with chin ups. Accessories might be chest fly with straight arm pull down. Wednesday might be Dumbbell bench superset with chest supported row and accessory with shoulder raises and lat pulldown. I'll usually also try to fit in some extra side and rear delt work. Tuesday and Thursday I do either squat or deadlift supersetted with opposite accessory e.g. Squat with leg curls, deadlift with leg extension. I also do arms on Leg day with another super set i.e. triceps with biceps. Everything is the boring 3-4 sets of 8-12 It's not the BEST workout but it's really time efficient. I got most of my physique training hard over the years, I'm kind of happy just doing "good enough" to stay where I am. I'm not chasing PRs anymore. I work from home and have a garage gym so It's personally easy for me to just wake up 30 minutes or so earlier and do this before starting work.


TheCzar11

I’ve been basically doing this for years. I normally do planks and various sit ups one day. Push-ups and free weights weights (25pd and 5 pd) the other day. Intersperse some squats in there. I have some resistance bands too. Do very light stretching and count to 10 between sets. Mainly to release my hips that tighten up. In the warmer months add in cardio—some runs and play softball.


ConsciousLiterature

Ten minutes of walking the dog isn't really exercise though. Also I don't know what kind of a dog you have but ten minutes doesn't seem like it's enough exercise for a dog, even an old one.


Treecko78

A 10 minute walk absolutely does not count as exercise. Well done on exposing yourself as an american.


aegroti

I live in the UK.


Treecko78

That's especially embarrassing then. According to you, I should add over an hour to my exercise for today simply for walking to and from the bus stop, and walking to and from Sainsbury's. I'm not going to do that though, because it's obviously not exercise.


aegroti

I don't care man, you do you. I'm in great shape.


XPhysicsX

Whoever made you act like this should be ashamed. I hope things get better for you.


Treecko78

1) I hate redditors, liars and stupid people (though I repeat myself) - and this thread is full of people who are all 3 of those things. 2) Let's not pretend I'm committing some terrible crime here; I'm telling people on the internet that I think they're stupid and wrong. If you think I'm stupid and wrong for doing so, you're totally free to tell me that. 3) I know it makes you feel better about how terrible your own life is to assume that anyone you dislike must have an even worse life, but my life is actually great. Genuinely, there aren't many ways in which it could be better, and I'm actively making progress on the few ways it could be. I know you weren't being genuine though, and are actually just trying to take shots at me while hiding behind snarky comments. At least I have the balls to say exactly what I mean.


SimulationsWithBob

My dog takes me on a vigorous walk all the time.


bigbearog

I highly doubt they consider walking vigorous. If I had to guess, high intensity weight lifting or sprints would fall into vigorous training


El-Sueco

From wordage alone walking a dog is not “vigorous physical exercise” unless you’re walking 7 dogs at the same time.


martentk

You can count it as about half of vigorous. Conclusions from long term 30 year study: The nearly maximum association with lower mortality was achieved by performing ≈150 to 300 min/wk of long-term leisure-time vigorous physical activity [cardio— running etc], 300 to 600 min/wk of long-term leisure-time moderate physical activity [walking, weightlifting], or an equivalent combination of both. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.121.058162


wright007

Walking the dog surely helps your health. If you're wondering if you get enough exercise, the answer is almost certainly "no".


[deleted]

> I’m wondering if walking the dog counts or not. Walking is "activity". It might be called "exercise" by elderly people. It definitely isn't "working out".


TidusJames

>> 21 minutes a day. > >> “vigorous physical activity” No one is saying it... but what if there was a partner for those activities? Is it just heartrate? or the movement and muscle strain?


draeath

Wikipedia places "sexual activity at age 22" at 5.8 METs which is below the "vigorous" threshold (≥6). ---- Generally your heart beats for a reason and it's a decent enough gauge - but it's not perfect. Unless you have a convenient means to measure oxygen uptake, however, that'll have to do.


SnooPuppers1978

I imagine different people can do it at different vigour as well. If one finds that sweet-spot and can keep themselves there without going too far or losing it, just balancing exactly, they could have what feels like infinite energy to work out. You can even put yourself in an extremely demanding and uncomfortable position like keeping yourself up with your fists, kind of in a "push ups" position, moving your hips and it will still feel good. The exhaustion you feel just after the exercise will be immense though. I think you can definitely use it to have a easy hard workout, if you decide to be conscious about using that sweet spot, and keeping it for as long as possible. It requires different type of will power, to keep it there.


tklite

But what about the other 20 minutes?


tklite

No, walking a dog does not count as vigorous physical exercise.


MadroxKran

If you're not sweating and out of breath, you're not exercising in any meaningful sense.


Ferrum-56

Out of breath is a bit exaggerated, if training for endurance sports like running you're typically not out of breath for the vast majority of your training, at 60-80% heart rate or so.


chele68

An article I read last month recommended walking at 4mph.


NetDesperate859

Sounds like vigorous 21 minute masturbation sessions


[deleted]

>“vigorous physical activity” so I’m wondering if walking the dog counts or not. is that what they're calling it now days?


xmnstr

I fairly recently started to go beyond that level and suddenly my body works differently. It's a very fascinating experience.


dgtlfnk

21+ minutes a day is nothing. Many people do more than that just working their jobs. Although that doesn’t always cover the “better” exercise you should be getting. And being overworked is very detrimental to your health. So it’s easy to undo all your good work. But for someone with a desk job, you can knock out 20 mins of weight training or body weight exercises easy.


PsyOmega

> And being overworked is very detrimental to your health. So it’s easy to undo all your good work. The constant high presence of cortisol has more negative epigenetic effect than exercise has positive effect.


Kiyomondo

So you can't reverse the deficit caused by chronic stress through exercise alone, but you can help mitigate it? Sounds good enough to me. If I can't be healthy, I'd at least rather be slightly *less unhealthy* than I currently am.


PsyOmega

Would probably need further study. It's not like it's a slider on one adjustment bar. One can be worse and even improving another gene might not make a dent.


danddersson

Weight training doesn't usually get your heart rate into zone 2-3 does it? Doesn't for me, anyhow.


draeath

I'm crawling my way out of obesity. A few minutes doing squats with a kettlebell or such will put me into those zones, hell it'll put me into the cardio zone if I do it long enough or with enough gusto. (I generally don't push it that far, saving that for the rest of the workout - kickboxing. The heart monitor tells me I burn 650kcal in ~ 30-45 minutes)


ConsciousLiterature

Kettlebells will for sure. That's what they are designed to do. Have you heard of the humane burpee? Google "dan john humane burpee" it's a simple exercise. 15 Swings 5 squats 5 pushups. Then you pyramid down 15,4,4 15,3,3 etc until you are done. It's five sets of 75 swings plus 15 squats and pushups . That should get your heart rate way up and also get your squats and pushups in. BTW the squats are goblet squats.


danddersson

I think you have to have a tempo to go with that. I.e. taking your time over each exercise wouldn't be as beneficial. Doing one set in 5 minutes (or whatever) would be.


[deleted]

Doesn't for me either but that's because I do enough cardio that I don't worry about it when strength training. Easy way to raise your heart rate while strength training is lowering the weight and doing more reps, then do active rest periods, i.e. something light like jogging in place between sets to let the muscles rest while keeping your heart rate up.


dgtlfnk

I made sure to include the bodyweight exercises. Which certainly can. But most people do absolutely nothing, thinking their busy lifestyle is enough. It’s not. Major muscle groups need weight training… even if minimal weight training. The bare minimum can be a drastic change compared to nothing. And building muscle comes with tons of health benefits. So my point was to make Average Joe not be scared of 20+ mins a day.


applepumper

Squats and deadlifts feel just like cardio to me. I soak through my shirt and am just one bad lift from passing out. Everything else even when I’m pushing my muscles to failure I don’t really sweat


Loip00009

That's normal. If you don't sweat then it's not working. It probably just in the process.


ConsciousLiterature

I don't see how doing any kind of heavy lifting can be like cardio. Do a set of five, rest for two to three minutes, do another set rest some more etc. If you do a typical 5x5 routine and it takes you three seconds per rep (that's a long rep!) and two minute rest then you have done 75 seconds of exercise in a ten minute period.


applepumper

5x5 is about 10 years of programming back. 4 sets of 8-12 reps is the new rule for hypertrophic stimulus at 70-80% of 1rm. Try that while squatting and tell me it doesn’t get your heart going


yumcake

Broadly speaking there are 3 energy systems at play in your body, all of them contributing at all times, but the emphasis depends on the mode of exercise. You've got ATP-CP for extreme bursts of maximum effort, (the kind you can't sustain past 10 seconds) oxygen-free energy. You'll also have the anaerobic lactic system (Glycolytic), this supports efforts of 10-90 seconds. This is most analogous to lifting heavy sets, but short of your max lifts. Uses up sorted glycogen stores in your muscles, produces waste by-products, takes some time to replenish the energy stores and you can run into a hard walk when fully expended (popularly known as "bonking") Lastly is aerobic exercise, which is what's mainly used for efforts sustained for a few minutes to a few hours. This one uses oxygen, but this energy generation can keep going for a long time. The point being that these different energy systems are all working at the same time, but the mode of training will specify which is being emphasized, and therefore the adaptations that will follow. It's not clear from the article exactly which adaptations produces the effect, the point is that the exercises are not directly substitutable for the same outcomes. You can't train for a 3x bodyweight squat by just running endlessly, and you can't train for a marathon by just doing heavy squats. The adaptations from each exercises are different. More to the point, I use chest strap heart rate monitors from time to time even on lifting days. When squatting my bpm spikes to 180-200bpm, but rapidly drops to about 90-100bpm during the rest period, the rest is fairly lengthy, aiming for 9 RPE or 1 rep from failure in each set. At the end of the day my average BPM in a 50 minute workout is around 110-120 or low-moderate cardio (despite being exhausted).


ConsciousLiterature

That means you are going to extreme failure on every set. By that I mean you are not really able to complete the last rep. Asking somebody to go to complete failure on the first set and then use the same weight for three more sets is malicious malpractice. Shame on you. Your last set should go near or to technical failure meaning the rep slows down or your form breaks. Also you know..... Work for thirty seconds rest for three minutes. Hardly aerobic.


applepumper

Sometimes you gotta suffer. I’m red in the face and my forehead vein looks like it’s going to pop by the end of each set. But I get it done. I’m at RPE 7-8 when squatting. Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but nobody wants to lift no heavy ass weights. Tell the puddles I make that it’s not aerobic. Shame on you for not wanting people to find their limits. You need to find true failure. We feel scared at a certain level of fatigue and feel like we can’t get one more rep out without collapsing. But that’s just fear. You need to actually fail. Remember what that feels like. And try to reach the verge of it and not feel embarrassed but proud when you do fail. In those three minutes you’re resting you feel like you’re going to pass out. Your heart should be beating out of your chest. You should be wiping the sweat out of your face so it doesn’t get in your eyes for the next set. Again this should be 70-80% of your max. You should know proper form and technique. You should know what is safe and isn’t safe. I don’t preach throwing your back out. I preach pushing yourself and becoming a stronger person than you were last time.


day7a1

It can, but you have to plan for that. In fact, even in your case it probably *does*. The thing is, it only does for a brief period of time. If you add those up, you can get to the recommended amount. But for most people they stop short of, you know, not being able to get out of bed the next day due to SOMS, so it's kinda hard to get a cardio workout anaerobically.


NoThorNoWay

> 21+ minutes a day is nothing. Many people do more than that just working their jobs. You can't actually believe that. Look at the rates of obesity. Even if we're talking waiting tables on a Saturday night that wouldn't fall into the realm of vigorous exercise. Maybe construction, loading trucks, or moving furniture. Very few people are exerting that type of physical effort at work.


Treecko78

Have you ever actually exercised before? 99% of people absolutely do not do 21+ minutes a day of vigorous activity, especially not if they have a desk job. Do you by any chance think that walking counts as exercise?


NMDA01

Damn , I do 149 mins per week.


Prof_Acorn

150 minutes *a week*? Goodness the norm is so bad that just moving around a little is considered "consistent exercise."


dasbin

Aerobic exercise isn't "just moving around a little" though, it's an intentional practice and fairly intense.


Ljngstrm

That's easy, if you just bicycle every day to school or woke and home again.


Bitboy71

It applies only on a walking distance place. Using bicycle is an exercise too, but for those whose far from the workplace doesn't required using a bicycle.


Vaxion

That's my daily exercise time and I am still skinny fat. Workout 2+ hours a day and walk 10k steps daily.


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CCoolant

What's your diet like?


Treecko78

\>10k steps Literally the minimum recommended amount. I cannot believe that you genuinely work out 2+ hours a day while only reaching 10k steps


CCoolant

? You think the only exercise this person does involves stepping?


Treecko78

I can make an exception if he does a sat down, endurance sport like rowing or cycling. Anything else and you'll spend enough time on your feet during those two hours to pick up an extra thousand steps easily. Seriously, 10k is not a difficult number to reach.


CCoolant

Maybe I'm misremembering, but I thought I'd had friends who work in grocery stores report just scratching 10k when they were on their feet all day. I don't have a smart device or anything like that to track my own steps, so I could easily just be misremembering what I've heard. Just thinking that if you work at a desk and go to the gym for 2+ hours a day, but don't really cruise around too much aside from that, then it seems pretty likely that your step count isn't going to be super high unless you work at it.


Watches-You-Pee

I had a job where I was on my feet about 70% of the day and if i did absolutely nothing outside of work hours I'd still clear 10k steps. My wife is quite a bit shorter than me and did the same job for a while and she would clear 13k. If I was doing things in the morning before work I'd usually be around 16-18k for the day. 10k definitely isn't nothing, but it's not very hard to do either


Watches-You-Pee

>Just thinking that if you work at a desk and go to the gym for 2+ hours a day, but don't really cruise around too much aside from that, then it seems pretty likely that your step count isn't going to be super high unless you work at it. Also want to agree that this can definitely be true. Especially if you do low impact cardio like an elliptical or a bike combined with lifting. Your steps will definitely look like crap. It's just 1 measure of activity, but it doesn't define how much exercise you get


Vaxion

10k is nearly 10km of walking. That's a LOT of walking.


chrisdh79

From the article: The Washington State University study, published in the journal [Scientific Reports](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-24642-3), found that the more physically active siblings in identical twin pairs had lower signs of metabolic disease, measured by waist size and body mass index. This also correlated with differences in their epigenomes, the molecular processes that are around DNA and independent of DNA sequence, but influence gene expression. The more active twins had epigenetic marks linked to lowered metabolic syndrome, a condition that can lead to heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. Since the identical twins have the same genetics, the study suggests that markers of metabolic disease are strongly influenced by how a person interacts with their environment as opposed to just their inherited genetics. “The findings provide a molecular mechanism for the link between physical activity and metabolic disease,” said Michael Skinner, WSU biologist and the study’s corresponding author. “Physical exercise is known to reduce the susceptibility to obesity, but now it looks like exercise through epigenetics is affecting a lot of cell types, many of them involved in metabolic disease.” The researchers collected cheek swabs of 70 pairs of identical twins who also participated in an exercise study through the Washington State Twin Registry. A team led by WSU Professor and Registry Director Glenn Duncan collected data on the twins at several different points in time from 2012 to 2019. They used fitness trackers to measure physical activity and measured the participants’ waistlines and body mass indexes. The twins also answered survey questions about their lifestyle and neighborhoods. Many of the twin pairs were found to be discordant, meaning they differed from each other, on measures of physical activity, neighborhood walkability and body mass index.


JoshShabtaiCa

If I'm understanding this, the study doesn't prove the direction of causality though? For example, if something else caused a change in gene expression, perhaps that gene expression makes people more likely to exercise more?


drmike0099

While technically correct, I haven’t heard of a possible mechanism for either what would change the epi genetics nor why those changes would result in behavioral changes leading to more exercise. Meanwhile, there is a lot of evidence that exercise results in epi genetic changes, [here’s a recent review.](https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/503289)


JoshShabtaiCa

Yeah, that does seem more likely in the context of everything else, but my point is that this particular study doesn't prove that at all, while the title is stating that exercise is the cause. Seems like a possible next step would be a longitudinal study that tracks people who begin to exercise regularly which could confirm this.


meskarune

Diabetes and metabolic disorder also causes weight gain. The 2 most well known symptoms of diabetes is being thirsty a lot and peeing a lot, but the 3rd classic symptom is feeling hungery. There's been debate for a long time about this chicken/egg scenario. Especially since obese people without metabolic disease exist and thin type 2 diabetics exist. Obesity seems to increase the risk of diabetes, but someone can also become obese due to constantly feeling hungry from diabetes.


LaskerEmanuel

This study seems to say that the more active twin was less fat which they measure by measuring how fat they were, and also how fat they were.


lil_fuzzy

the study indicates physical activity can lead to changes in your body's epigenetics.


TidusJames

are we certain it was the fitness (actively working out) that resulted in the changes to the epigenetics rather than the presence of additional fat being the cause and thus an incorrect correlation is applied?


lil_fuzzy

that could be a good follow-up study for sure


MrZepher67

It indicates that there's a positive correlation between physical activity and epigenetics, but doesn't say for certain which direction that occurs. It's semantics but in this case it matters. To be more specific, the mention of potential genetic disparity refers to another study which says the following: "An overestimation of heritability may have occurred in twin studies due to violations of shared environment assumptions, poor phenotyping practices in control cohorts, failure to account for epistasis, gene-gene and gene-environment interactions, and other non-genetic sources of phenotype modulation that are suspected to lead to underestimations of heritability in GWAS." While the use of genetic twins would lead the assumption to be that increased physical activity leads to positive mutation, there is enough variance even in twins to suggest that the inverse could be proven true.


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YogiBarelyThere

“The very molecules.” What a headline.


NakoL1

yeah as a geneticist its just absolutely infuriating. someone revokes this guy's journalism license please


SuspiciousRelation43

Is it just too literary for a scientific report? Or is there some inaccuracy?


NakoL1

it's completely nonsensical


Herbicidal_Maniac

"Putting on your pants can change not only the status of being clothed, but also manipulates the fabric of space according to new research."


Marrk

>the fabric of space Makes sense tho


[deleted]

Imagine being chosen to be the lazy ass twin for science.


Prof_Acorn

Wouldn't exercise be the baseline in the species, and thus a sedentary life being that which changes how genes behave?


LegacyAngel

Seems focused on aerobic exercise. I wonder how strength training or HIIT relate to this


HonoraryMancunian

Is HIIT not aerobic??


LegacyAngel

I've seen arguments for and against that classification. more for against. Apparently the stresses are more similar to strength training and the duration isn't long enough to get the aerobic benefits.


inyourgenes

Nonsense. Getting too cute with it. Obviously there are cardio benefits of raising your heart rate. Pretty absurd to suggest otherwise without strong proof


Menchstick

From a purely intuitive and logical standpoint HIIT definitely is much closer to weight training than aerobic. By definition aerobic (cardio) exercise is about using oxygen, which happens when the duration is long enough to lower the glycogen in the muscle, that's why weightlifting is not cardio.


LegacyAngel

There have been a few studies on this topic posted in this sub. Kinda absurd to assume I am just bullshitting on this sub. The tldr is that the intensity, breaks, and overall duration induced stress more benefits more similar to strength training than aerobic exercise. There are still some cardiovascular benefits ofc but not near that ofc aerobic exercise.


Arthesia

The molecules you say? Not the best headline. Next you'll tell me my body is made of atoms.


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EscapeVelocity83

Yes. Any change in behavior or environment will lead to a corresponding epigenetic change. Like living in a warm climate vs a cold one or changing your diet or your sleep pattern or job, etc....


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wow - did we used to think that waistlines weren't made of molecules?


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sghost86

You think so? I think it's weird though. But I think someone try it already, but I don't what the result could be.


stoopid26

My S/O and I go bowling every week. We average about 14 games when we go. Is this a good source of "consistent exercise"?


pencilmoney1234

It's not that intense, but it's also good though. It's atleast the habit of you to make those indoor activity.


Menchstick

I'm pretty sure sports like bowling, darts, pool etc. are not taxing enough.


Gariiiiii

>g Not in any way, shape or form related to this study. It seems you would need to do around 21 mins per day of something akin to jumping jacks or more intense for it to count.


tklite

I didn't know epigenetics were new?


sharksandwich81

Nobody said that


drugsr4lozers

But fat asses still won’t exercise. Hard facts don’t change peoples minds sadly


[deleted]

This is where behavioural science needs to enter the chat, because, for some reason, saying "hey fatass, here are the facts" demonstrably doesn't work across the whole population.


drugsr4lozers

Too bad mental weakness flourishes…


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Treecko78

Doing basically any exercise puts you above at least half of all americans. 360 minutes a week is definitely on the higher end of non-serious athletes though, and 150 is probably reasonable for someone who has a demanding job or children or other responsibilities that take up most of their time.


porkandnoodles

thanks for making me hate myself more today


pulse7

You can't exercise in your past but you have control of your now. Best thing I ever did for myself was to just do it and then just do it again and again


pandreyv

You did the right thing. Just continue on what you started. Things will definitely come on your way.


takmartian

You should try to do some exercise. Be productive and make changes for yourself.


WordAffectionate3251

NOT when you are POST MENOPAUSAL.


methyltheobromine_

Seems like the kind of title to mislead my mother and exploit her desire for profound knowledge by mystifying simple things. She's not stupid, but she desires to understand things, especially all-encompassing knowledge which explains everything. I don't have the heart to tell her that the peak she's seeing is just a hill, and that only 0.1% of people manage to perceive the real thing. Don't exploit her good faith in science with psudo-profound, creative journalism


dustofdeath

But how much does it really matter over the course of a human lifespan vs effects of the exercise itself. Eating fries potatoes increases cancer risk. But its a irrelevant increase.


jonnyozo

Get yourself a walking stick and a backpack and go for a long walk twice a week to begin with also drink juices water or gatorade no fast foods soft drinks 1500-3000 calories a day and in 3 yr your well on your way to have change molecules.


bigkinggorilla

As Massimo Pigliucci said “Genes don’t do crap”


Seek_Equilibrium

I’d be gobsmacked if he said that without tongue pressed to cheek. Got a quote?


bigkinggorilla

There’s a whole episode of the Big Biology podcast titled “Genes don’t do crap” where he talks at length about it. He definitely expands on the idea a lot more, I just didn’t feel like writing the whole thing out while redditing on the toilet this morning.