From the Telegraph we learn
Pensioners can improve their health by doing one minute of intense exercise a week, a study has found.
Elderly people often find it hard to meet current exercise guidelines which consist of performing moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity - such as fast walking or running - several days per week.
Dr John Babraj said: "The ageing process is generally looked on quite negatively by society, with everyone knowing that you find it more difficult to carry out day-to-day activities like standing up from your chair, or carrying your shopping, as you get older..
If people aren't meeting the targets, we need to find ways to work with them when it comes to exercise, rather than just persisting with something that isn't working."
Meeting the targets? A chilling phrase if you ask me.
8 comments:
Don't worry. The intention is malevolent, but if the public sector is anything to go by, pensioners will soon be "meeting their targets" by fiddling the figures. The most objectionable thing about target culture is that it provides an incentive for dishonesty.
When my time comes, I'm going to make sure all my targets are met (i.e. that I have lied well enough) in order to avoid the pressure to avail myself of assisted dying. Because I'm sure the health professionals will have targets in that area, too.
Perhaps the idea is to kill us off quickly and cheaply, through "effort thrombosis", like Douglas Adams who at the age of 49 "died suddenly, exercising in a gym after a warning of high blood pressure":
http://www.agsm.edu.au/bobm/odds+ends/dna.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2040580/DVT-I-developed-life-threatening-blood-clot-I-exercised-TOO-much.html
My major exercise is searching the fridge during the night.
The headline is 1 minute once a week. The article says 1 minute twice a week. The details in the article say 6 x 6 seconds building to 10 x 6 seconds (which is where they get the 1 minute from) but with at least a minute between efforts. You wouldn't want to do an intense effort from cold so you'd probably do 5 minutes or more warm up then 5 minutes or more warm down. Your 1 minute exercise is now taking at least an additional 20 minutes, probably closer to half an hour. So that's half an hour exercise twice a week not 1 minute once a week, no wonder their health has improved.
Sam - somehow I think assisted dying targets will be with us in the not too distant future.
Sackers - maybe there will be NHS gyms for the elderly where the jogging machine has its own targets.
Demetrius - that's the point of having the fridge in the kitchen - for the exercise. If it was next to the bed there would be no benefit.
Frank - sounds as if we'd need a cheese sandwich and a pint in there somewhere too.
"The current voluntary option has failed..."
WY - ...but there is another option..
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