It’s good to break a sweat, but don’t sweat the details

By Alvin Powell | Harvard Staff Writer | Harvard Gazette

Your body does not move you as long as you move.

That’s what was at the center of a conversation Thursday by Chan School panelists about the benefits of being active and the excesses of “no pain, no gain.”

Although studies of the health effects of physical activity are often conducted with a focus on specific exercises, Megan WasfaiMas General, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said the development of wearable fitness monitors has enabled researchers to look at the effects of different types of activity. The results were clear.

“The heart — and the whole body — doesn’t know what shoes you’re wearing,” says MGH sports cardiologist and echocardiographer Wasfi.

The heart — and neither the whole body — knows what shoes are on your feet

-Megan Wasfai

WASFI’s co-panelists at the “Reframing Exercise” event were Mia Sanchez, a marathoner who studied environmental health at the Chan School; Brooke Ford, an Olympic silver medalist swimmer and Chan School project coordinator; And I-Min LeeChan School of Epidemiology and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Sanchez and Ford talk about their transition from competitive to casual practice. One thing they learned? Exercise doesn’t have to hurt.

“I was able to stop and reflect on my ‘why’ of exercise and how I could find that balance,” Sanchez said of a vigorous hiatus caused by a stress fracture. “Then, moving from college to graduate school, there wasn’t as much time for the high-intensity training I’d been used to. But I found a love not only for running, but for other forms of exercise, like going out and playing soccer or volleyball with friends.”

For those looking to slim down, the panelists said being active can help with weight maintenance, but it’s not a great way to shed pounds by itself. Nevertheless, studies have shown that among people with obesity, those who exercise are healthier than those who don’t.

For anyone starting an exercise regimen, physical activity is most beneficial when it’s regular and habitual, Lee noted. Also, your hard-charging past won’t save you today.

“It feels like what you’re doing now is more important than what you’ve done in the past,” Lee says. “Harvard athletes who played a lot of sports while in college but became couch potatoes did not actually do as well as those who played no sports in college but are currently physically active.”

Panelists supported the government’s recommendation of 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week as a good starting point for most people. Another popular guideline is 10,000 steps per day, which dates to a study done in the 1960s. Here, the group offers caution.

For older adults, they said, citing more recent data, cardiovascular and cancer benefits begin to decline at 6,000 steps. (Which doesn’t mean you should stop: The social or psychological benefits can mount.) For sedentary adults, health gains begin to accumulate almost immediately, even at 500 to 1,000 steps. For them, walking for half an hour or an hour provides significant benefits.

“What matters is the total amount of human movement,” Wasfi said. “What matters for health benefits is the total dose. The details don’t matter much.”

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This is the story is reprinted with permission From the Harvard Gazette.

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