How much Exercise should we do? Less than you think.....There is a sweet spot.

 As a general rule, the more you exercise, the more benefit you gain.  It is important to consider why you want to exercise.  There are so many benefits: 

    Live longer

    Maintain a healthy body weight

    Perk up your immunity 

    Less pain - exercise is anti-inflammatory

    More energy

    Tolerate the hot weather

    Increase the number of your cells mitochondria.

I should stop now. I could go on all day.

In an article in the New York Times, Gretchen Reynolds investigates how much exercise we should do.  She found in the research that there is a sweet spot.    12 minutes.  That is not much.  It is a six minutes walk out and a six minute walk back.  ( I spend longer than that waiting for a kettle to boil) 

It turns out that there is tremendous benefit doing 12 minutes of exercise compared to doing nothing It is not a trivial benefit, it is for "all cause mortality".    

So if you don't have time to do exercise - you might just have to find time to be sick.