Vigorous exercise study

[Tubs11]

47% of women have done no vigorous exercise in the past 12 months

This news story had irked me and feels like a women bashing exercise

Me: I haven't done vigorous exercise since pre pandemic and damn right I have no motivation or interest in doing any as I'm still knackered from having to raise and educate kids whilst working during the pandemic. Incidentally I'm the thinnest I've ever been as I didn't have time to eat!!

Anyone else annoyed by this study?

I have zero time or interest for vigorous exercise at this point in my life so would fall under the 47% and I wonder how many others fall under this category.

The category that is exactly described as such?

I imagine all of them

But it’s like saying
50% of women are not getting enough nutrients
And 34% of men aren’t getting enough nutrients.
so we extrapolate from that that the women need more support to get more nutrients because it’s that group that are struggling the most to get nutrients.
It’s really important that we have figures like this to improve women’s health .

You’re annoyed it’s been reported but you admit that you have no interest in exercise?

I don’t understand the problem here

I started with HIIT in a standard sized living room (which isn't particularly big tbh, but I think it's standard size?). You can find ton of exercises which don't require large space at all

Wow!! I'm shocked that that many people have not done any vigourous exercise in the last year?! A whole year?!
That's actually really worrying and I'm glad it's being reported so that it can be addressed.
I'm also worried that your response to this reflection on your exercise for the past year that this article has prompted is to feel attacked rather than to think "hmm, maybe this needs addressing". I hope that is jot most people's reaction. I mean, the benefit is for you at the end of the day...

Dancing, weights, jogging on the spot, aerobics, functional exercises e.g squats, lunges, press ups, step, yoga, pilates, resistance training....

At least the research has looked at men and women separately. So often it doesn't....and the male results become what is considered the norm....thus making women invisible. www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CQ2NZG6/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

I also don't get how it is 'women bashing' if you're agreeing it's true (at least for you ...)

Could you follow a step class video on you tube? I appreciate the fact you have a lack of space. My old house's living room was teeny. But a step class is reasonably contained around the step? I dunno. Just a thought.

Yoga wouldn't be classed as vigorous. Personally my knees are buggered so i don't know how i would achieve vigerousness apart from swimming. And we can't afford it at the mo. The price of the session plus petrol to get there (nearest one 30 min drive).

@Laiste can you do bike? I got small folding one and it's great help as well. Of course depends on your knees, I found it ok on mine and one is dodgy bastard

This would have been me 2 years ago but coming out of lockdown I realised how unfit I was and decided to prioritize it. Surely it's a good thing that it is being recognised that women find it particularly hard to get the exercise they need?

Lots of online exercise videos of varying length and difficulty, that's if you are determined to exercise at home.

I’m not in the slightest bit surprised by this. I run 4 times a week- once on a Sunday morning, and three mornings before work. I can manage it, because I work from home three days a week and I have no children, so my time at weekends and before work is my own. If I had other people to worry about, or had to be ready and out for work at a set time every day, it just wouldn’t happen. It’s hard as it is, especially in winter when I can’t set out early enough because it’s dark, so have to start work later. It takes time and commitment and the persistence to resist pressure from other people who feel you should put them first. More men are able to put in this time and persistence, either because they genuinely don’t have responsibilities, or because they’re happy not to do their share and let women pick up the slack. That’s the point of the article, surely, and that’s where OP’s anger should be directed- that something that has such a massiva impact on health and well-being is so unachievable for so many women.

Thanks. Definitely don't have room for yoga without hitting furniture (as it's the one of those I've tried!), and wouldn't consider several of those 'heart pumping'.

Any particular dance recommendations that don't involve big movements across a room (big steps to the side etc)?

I think it's partly time but partly cultural. It hasn't been our culture to emphasise the importance of daily exercise for adults, although funnily enough it is for kids and dogs. Adult exercise has usually been seen as incidental - walk the dogs, take the kids out etc, but not so much for themselves. My grandparents did dog-walking, gardening and occasional swimming but would never have done an exercise class, for instance. Younger adults will have had a lot more emphasis and cultural influence on exercise than they did and those in cities etc will have more of a gym-going culture. I'm only talking about white/Scottish culture, by the way, not being qualified to pronounce on any others! It's getting much more common to see joggers/cyclists etc than it used to be, though.

If you've not got much space, try a routine based on squats and lunges. Add in some weights and you can get out breath surprisingly fast.

Even in a small house, isn't there even one room where you have enough space to lie on the floor? That's all the room you need. What if you push furniture back temporarily/move coffee table etc? I used to have the coffee table in the middle of the floor and moved it and now there's space in the living room (which is quite small)to do HIIT/weights/yoga etc. The trouble is motivating myself to do it properly regularly. I have done a lot of vigorous exercise in the last year but still not frequently enough - nowhere near daily.

I've done weights (hand weights, admittedly) and Pilates in an en suite bathroom measuring approx 2 x 1m (and a sink and loo took up part of that space). I don't move off the mat for yoga so not much more space needed than that?

I don't run alone, but if that's your only option you could parkrun or join a running club as a beginner (both usually free, perhaps a nominal annual membership fee for the running)

This isn't surprising based on attendance at the gym. The one thing I'd say is that if most of the men at my gym say that they "vigorously exercise" there, they're full of shit.

Any particular dance recommendations that don't involve big movements across a room (big steps to the side etc)?

Barre work . You can probably find barre workouts on YouTube or try a beginner (if that's your level) ballet class doing the barre section (use a chair or kitchen work surface) centre being trickier if you're short on space.

You’ve really got to want to see that as “woman bashing” instead of concerning.

I can't understand why you're annoyed by it. I think it's shocking. Given the number of women, particularly young women, who are overweight or obese it's more important than ever that women start to look after their health (I'm not fat shaming, I'm overweight myself, but it's shocking how many young girls are very, very overweight and setting themselves up for future health issues). Just under half of all women doing no intense exercise at all in a year is bad news.

Is walking not included in vigorous exercise then? I kept fit during lockdown by walking fast and up hills and think it’s great exercise. I think the study is important. People in the U.K. need to move more and eat less or more healthily. You don’t need a study to know that!

Honestly I think people should stop obsessing about how much they weigh and what they eat and get off their lazy arses and do some exercise. I have friends who's already have low bone density because they've done nothing but sit down at every opportunity for the last 20 years.

Yes, I did wonder if the figures could be skewed by men overestimating what counts as “vigorous” exercise and women underestimating. My immediate thought was that I hadn’t done any for a while as I haven’t been for a run for ages and have never been to the gym, but then I looked at the definitions on the NHS website and realised that my 4-miles-each-way daily cycle commute probably counts as I go quite fast and up some hills which makes my heart pound, and I take the stairs to my 5th floor office (again at a fair pace).