The New York Times asked physiologists what they considered to be the single best exercise. It's a question a lot of people would like answered- especially those of us who struggle to fit a workout into our too-busy days, and want to get the most out of any precious moments we can set aside for exercise.
Swimming, walking, H.I.T., running up stairs, the burpee and the squat were all on the list. In addition to providing a decent workout, these activities were considered practical because they could be done in a reasonable amount of time and weren't too difficult to stick with.
One element of a good exercise all of these experts mentioned-
- building muscle strength.
It's not about how many hours of aerobics you can squeeze in, or how many calories you can burn (people tend to compensate by eating more after aerobic and endurance exercise, anyway).
Building and maintaining muscle should factor into any exercise you can find the time to do. Muscle is just too vital for our overall health. And age-related muscle loss, called sarcopenia, is something we are all up against. It begins as early as age 30.
The article quotes McMaster University Professor of Kinesiology Dr. Stuart Phillips, who proposed the squat for single best exercise.
“Each of us is experiencing sarcopenia right this minute,” he said. “We just don’t realize it." Endurance exercise, he added, unlike resistance training, does little to slow the condition.
The experts also pointed out that most of the benefits of exercise result from the first 30 minutes of your workout, so if you can find a half-hour somewhere in your day, go ahead and do something good for your muscles!
