THE ESSENTIAL
- According to the WHO, adults should devote at least 150 to 300 minutes per week to moderate-intensity endurance activity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity endurance activity.
- Intense physical activities include aerobics, running, brisk walking, climbing a hill at high speed or team sports (rugby, football, basketball, etc.).
Many families have the habit of taking a walk following Christmas dinner to aid digestion. A team of American researchers have a proposal to spend even more energy, and therefore burn off the excesses of the holidays, during this ride.
You have to walk like Mr. Teabag, a character in a Monty Python sketch. That is to say, taking long strides and many ridiculous gestures, and ultimately not “very efficient” to get from point A to point B.
Walk like Monty Python to expend more energy
For the Christmas edition of the magazine British Medical Journal which presents “lighter” scientific studies, American researchers decided to establish which steps allowed the most calories to be spent.
They asked 13 healthy adults (six women, seven men) aged 22 to 71 (mean age 34) with no history of heart or lung disease and no known gait disorder to walk for 5 min: a the first time normally, the second time imitating Mr. Teabag and the third time imitating Mr. Putey, another character from the comedy troupe’s “Ministry of Ridiculous Marches” sketch.
Average speed, oxygen consumption, energy expenditure and exercise intensity (amount of calories expended per minute of physical activity) were measured. The scientists found that only Mr. Teabag’s gait resulted in significantly higher energy expenditure, regarding 2.5 times that of usual walking.
100 additional Kcal spent in 12 min
Resulting in an oxygen consumption of 27.9 ml/kg/min, Mr. Teabag’s ridiculous walk can be – unlike the other two – considered a vigorous-intensity exercise. Thus, by having fun walking “ridiculously” 11 minutes a day, adults might reach the goal of 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity recommended by the WHO, underline the researchers. They also estimate that adopting it between 12 and 19 minutes per day would help increase daily energy expenditure by approximately 100 Kcal.
This approach would be, according to their estimates, beneficial for cardiorespiratory health and would reduce the risk of mortality.
However, the researchers recognize that some people, such as those with mobility difficulties or joint disease, do not necessarily have the opportunity to walk around imitating Mr. Teabag. This character can however remain a source of inspiration. “They might be able to increase their energy expenditure by performing their daily movements, with inefficiency as the goal“, they say.
“Our analysis of the energy consumed during different walking styles aims to empower people to move their own bodies more energetically and hopefully joyfully. Efforts to improve cardiovascular fitness should embrace inclusivity and inefficiency for all“, they conclude.
Mr. Teabag’s ‘ridiculous walk’ to imitate
Here is the process to imitate for regarding ten minutes to expend more energy.