The Age-Well Project

Change the way you age

Get our posts direct to your inbox

  • About The Age-Well Project
  • Books
    • Our Books
    • Reviews
    • References
  • Blog
  • Recipes
    • Recipes By Ingredient
    • Breakfast
    • Dessert
    • Dinner
    • Drinks
    • Family
    • On The Go
    • Soups and Salads
    • Treats and Snacks
  • Contact
  • Events
  • Press

WHY A 12 MINUTE WALK IS ALL IT TAKES (AND A SPECIAL OFFER)

December 5, 2020 2 Comments

This week a recent report on exercise caught my eye.  As the days shorten and darken, as the weather closes in, those long walks we all took in the magnificently sunny lockdown #1 don’t seem quite so appealing. For those of us in the UK, lockdown #2 has been subject to repeated deluges of rain, often appearing without a minute’s warning.

What to do? In a bid to break up my sedentary days I’ve taken to dashing out for very short yomps  whenever the rain stops.  Hence I was delighted to read a study from Massachusetts General Hospital confirming the remarkable power of a short dash or a quick yomp.  This study found that 12 minute bursts of exercise dramatically changed our body’s circulating metabolites.  Metabolites are small molecules in our blood that indicate how well (or not) our bodies are functioning and how effectively we’re repairing ourselves. Doctors use metabolites as biological markers to gauge what’s going on inside us, and to check our metabolic health.

Our metabolites can reveal the proficiency of our insulin resistance, our levels of inflammation, how healthy our heart is, how well our bodies are dealing with oxidative stress, and our likely longevity, amongst other things. For this study, researchers measured the levels of 588 circulating metabolites in 411 middle-aged men and women, before and after short bouts of exercise.

And here’s the good news. Apparently 12 minutes of brisk exercise is enough to improve over 80% of these extraordinarily revealing biomarkers.

I’ll give you an example of a circulating metabolite that changes after exercise: glutamate.  We all have glutamate lurking inside us.  It’s pumped out by our brains when we’re exposed to stress and toxins. Too much circulating glutamate is a biomarker for heart disease, diabetes and a shorter life span.  Over-production of glutamate is also thought to kill off healthy brain cells.

The researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital found that after 12 minutes of exercise, glutamate levels were typically 29% lower than before exercise. That’s quite a difference.

Another metabolite, DMGV, associated with liver disease and diabetes, dropped by 18% after 12 minutes of exercise.

In other words, short bursts of exercise can significantly and immediately change what’s happening in our bodies, more dramatically than we might have thought. But before you go for a gleeful 12-minute stroll, I have to tell you that these short burst of exercise need to be ‘vigorous’ or ‘intense’, bona fide dashes rather than dawdles.  Ideally a run, or a brisk or uphill walk (or anything else that properly increases your heart rate, making you breathless and a little sweaty).

Which brings me to the subject of brisk walking.  Two weeks’ ago I took a course in how to walk. Of course I know how to walk.  But with my days spent in front of a laptop, I’m acutely aware that my posture has changed, my shoulders feel more slumped and rounded.  My spine feels stiffer. I feel a touch crumpled.  Given that I often walk (and love walking and am currently writing not one but two books about walking), I wanted to be sure that every step was improving my skeleton rather than exacerbating the bad habits acquired during lockdown.

By a stroke of serendipity I discovered Joanna Hall and the WalkActive programme she founded.  After a week’s online course (in which she asks you to practise for ten minutes three times a day) I now walk with better posture and I feel lighter and springier. More akin to a catwalk model than a penguin with rigor mortis.

Joanna, a sports scientist who’s been helping people improve their gait, stride and posture for over a decade, shows us how to walk using the full length of our feet, including our toes.  I loved knowing that my feet were walking as they were supposed to. I bought new trainers to get the full benefit and this too was a revelation (more to come in a future post).  You can watch Joanna’s YouTube tutorials on how to choose the right footwear. She also pays close attention to pushing off properly, so that we activate the right muscles. Her arsenal of clever techniques for keeping our abdominal muscles in place and our shoulders aligned make it very easy to recall what we’ve been taught.

But the best thing about Joanna’s course (for me, at any rate) is this: she teaches us how to walk briskly so that it feels elegant and effortless.  And when this happens, we enhance many of the biological processes taking place inside us (back to those metabolites circulating in our blood).

At the Age-Well Project we look for hard evidence that something works before we write about it. Joanna agreed to share an unpublished research paper (produced by a London university) investigating the effects of her walking programme. Interestingly, it confirmed some of my own anecdotal findings: after a month of walking using Joanna’s techniques, participants walked more quickly (an average increase of 24%) and with better alignment. The research also found reduced joint strain at knee and ankle.

At the Age-Well Project, we also only recommend things we really like (we make no commission from our recommendations). I liked Joanna’s course so I asked if she would provide a discount code for our Age-Well readers.  And she’s kindly agreed. Readers of our blog qualify for a 28% discount for a limited period.  The course is normally £35, but Age-Well subscribers can buy it for £25 and the code lasts two weeks.

Details and code are at the end of this post. Personally, I think it could make an ideal Christmas gift for anyone wanting to perfect their walking, or for anyone needing to unfold their bodies after too much screen gazing.  Just in time for those long walks we’ll be taking during the Christmas holidays…

Back to metabolites. Susan and I have brisk 12-minute routes from our doorstep (six minutes there and six minutes back), but you could just as well spend 12 minutes going up and down your stairs. Either way, find a route that’s convenient (no need to get in the car, no route planning or thinking required) and build it into your day.  Even the most time-pressed of us should be able to squeeze in a bracing heart-pumping 12-minute walk.

Annabel

More information on Joanna Hall’s WalkActive course is available at www.getwalkactive.thinkific.com.

This is an exclusive introductory offer to Joanna Hall’s Get Started with WalkActive 7 Day programme. To book your place simply select your start date and enter coupon AGEWELL10 at the checkout to get the special introductory price of £25 (the course is normally £35).This promo code is valid until December 23rd 2020

Joanna’s next programme dates are:

Dec 5th 

Jan 16th 

Feb 6th 

Please address any questions directly to Joanna via her website.

  • Conditions: Ageing, Heart, Heart disease, Inflammation
« WHY YOUR SENSE OF SMELL MATTERS
THE SILVER BULLET FOR ALZHEIMER’S? AND OUR FAVOURITE CHRISTMAS RECIPES »

Comments

  1. Paulo Yvonny says

    March 15, 2021 at 6:45 am

    This article is valuable. Thanks for sharing, Philadelphia Home Care is the most Reliable provider of senior home health care services in Philadelphia.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. WHAT'S HAPPENING IN YOUR BODY AS YOU AGE, AND A BRAIN HEALTH MASTERCLASS - The Age-Well Project says:
    January 16, 2021 at 4:24 pm

    […] ageing process by pumping out inflammation. This inflammation, as we’ve written about here and here, is one of the key drivers of the ageing process, making us frail as we get […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Welcome to The Age-Well Project

Welcome to The Age-Well Project!
Here you’ll find easy changes for a longer, happier life. We’ve immersed ourselves in the science of longevity and distilled the research to make it work in our everyday lives. You can change the way you age: here’s how.

Favourite Posts

WHY I’VE THROWN OUT ALL MY BEAUTY PRODUCTS (nearly…)

Why Alzheimer’s Is A Women’s Issue

HOW HAVING A DOG CHANGED MY LIFE

GREEN SPACE IS GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH

SUGAR, CHOCOLATE, SADNESS AND BRAIN-BOOSTING BISCUITS

WHY ‘INFLAMM-AGEING’ COULD START IN THE GUT AND HARISSA-ROASTED VEGETABLE SALAD

POLYAMINES – THE NEW SECRET WEAPON FOR AGEING WELL & MOROCCAN SPINACH AND CHICKPEAS.

THINNING AGEING HAIR – WARM CHICKEN LIVER SALAD

About The Age Well Project

This site is for anyone who wants to make the second half of their life as healthy, happy and disease-free as possible. Sign up to get the latest research on ageing – and delicious recipes to match – direct to your inbox.

agewellproject

⭐️Change the way you age
📚The Age-Well Project + Age-Well Plan ⭐️Get tips & recipes on our blog - sign up ⬇️

The Age-Well Project blog
We all want plenty of ‘energy’ but what does t We all want plenty of ‘energy’ but what does that mean?

We’ve got the low down over the blog - what is energy and how we get more?!? 

We’re covering:

🥗The nutrition we need to fuel our mitochondria (the ‘batteries’ of our cells)

⚡️The ‘good stress’ (hormesis) that creates more energy 

🧘‍♀️The importance of breath work 

😴Why we need to rest 

and 

👩‍🍳A whole load of great recipes 

It’s all on the blog - link in bio 

#agewell #ageingwell #agingwell #longevity #womenover50 #postmenopause #fitover50 #over50 #over50blogger #energy #mitochondria #hormesis #breathwork #wimhof #hypoxictraining #hypoxia #pranayama #wakefulrest #rest #womenwhowalk #selfcare #healthyrecipes
We spend a lot of time suggesting that you get up We spend a lot of time suggesting that you get up and move 🏃‍♀️🚶‍♀️💃 But we were fascinated by recent research into the power of ‘wakeful rest’, particularly if we rock while we do it. 

It seems Granny and her rocking chair were right all along - rockers sleep better. Hammocks are great too, as Annabel is demonstrating here!

And students who take some time to rest after learning something new consolidate their new knowledge better than people who go to sleep, or just get on with their lives. And it seems ten minutes of down-time is enough to deeply embed new memories.

So now we’re rocking and resting! There’s more on the blog - link in bio

#agewell #ageingwell #agingwell #healthblog #longevity #longevityblog #healthyageing #healthyaging #fitover50 #postmenopause #healthyeating #rest #hammock #rockingchair #powernap #memories #dementia #alzheimers
We are delighted to announce that Annabel now has We are delighted to announce that Annabel now has a regular column in @psychologiesmagazine with her first column in the July issue (out now) on the joys of following a river. Grab a copy and find out why following a river was the walk of choice for our female ancestors … 

#agewell #walk #walking
A bottle of beer a day can improve our microbiome A bottle of beer a day can improve our microbiome according to new research published by the @amerchemsociety.  Four weeks of a daily lager (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) improved intestinal health without impacting weight, the researchers speculate that the additional bacteria produced by fermentation might positively interact with the polyphenols contained in lager to enrich the gut. Good news for beer drinkers!  We’re fans of alcohol free beers, particularly on hot days… like this dainty bottle from @brewdogofficial 

#agewell
Isn’t she ageing well?! Yes, yes, we know our Qu Isn’t she ageing well?! Yes, yes, we know our Queen has incredible advantages when it comes to longevity: palaces, retinues of staff, the country’s best doctors…. but there are longevity lessons we can all learn from Her Majesty as we head into the Platinum Jubilee bank holiday weekend 🇬🇧👑🇬🇧

So a trumpet voluntary, please, for our right royal Age-Well celebration….

It’s all on the blog - link in bio 

#agewell #ageingwell #agingwell #healthblog #longevity #longevityblog #jubilee #platinumjubilee #nonagenarian #healthyageing #healthyaging #fitover50 #postmenopause #senseofpurpose #healthyeating #dopaminedressing #queenelizabeth 

📷 @theroyalfamily
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Contact Us

For any enquiries please email theagewellproject@gmail.com.

Copyright © 2022 The Age-Well Project