Scientists say that the best way for people to get fitter could be to accept that we are not going to keep new year resolutions and instead learn how to turn daily tasks into opportunities for high-intensity exercise.
Research suggests that interval training, in which people do vigorous exercise for a short time, gives a disproportionate boost to health.
Some public health officials recommend increasing this type of exercise. Emmanuel Stamatakis, from the University of Sydney, says that it gives the “best bang for the buck”, but keeping it up is still hard.
Professor Stamatakis said that by adapting daily schedules most people could exploit “incidental physical activity [which is] any activity that is part of one’s daily living that is not done with the purpose of recreation or health and requires no sacrifice of discretionary time. For example, walking or cycling to move from place to place, stair-climbing and active daily chores, such as carrying heavy shopping and house-cleaning.”
