Welcome to the Get Fit Guys, quick and dirty tips to slim down and shape up.

My name is Ben Greenfield, and I'm the Get Fit Guy.

Listener Natasha recently wrote in and said,

What would you recommend as a minimum exercise routine for someone who isn't concerned about achieving prime

fitness, but is more worried about just staying healthy, being able to sprint after a bus,

reducing the risks of disease and injury, keeping your immune system and mood in check, etc.

I generally stay active, but I'm wondering what else I should be doing.

Bonus points if the recommended plan doesn't

involve a gym membership or expensive equipment. Well, this is a great question, Natasha, and while I hope

you don't have to be sprinting after a bus too much, I want to give you an idea today of the concept

of a minimal effective exercise dose and how little you can

actually get away with when it comes to staying healthy. So in this episode, you're going to learn

the minimum amount of exercise necessary to keep you at a low risk for things like cardiovascular

disease and diabetes or osteoporosis, but that will also allow you to climb a flight of stairs

without your heart pounding out your chest or catch that bus. So let's start with the minimum

amount of exercise necessary to stay fit. Organizations like the American Council on Exercise

recommend at least 60 minutes of moderate activity most days of the week for folks

trying to lose weight but one relatively recent study which i'll link to in the show notes over

at getfeit guy dot quick and dirty tips dot com actually compared three groups of individuals over a 13

week period the groups consisted of people who exercise 30 minutes

a day, people who exercise 60 minutes a day, and people who didn't exercise at all. The people who

were exercising were allowed to choose their activities, such as running, cycling, etc., but they

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