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Strength for the work

How much, and how much it matters

The World Health Organization recommends 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity a week (or 75 to 150 vigorous), plus muscle strengthening on two or more days1. Pooled data from 661,000 adults shows that meeting the minimum is associated with 31% lower mortality, and three to five times the minimum with 39% lower. Even people doing less than the minimum fared 20% better than those doing nothing2.

Fitness is among the strongest predictors of how long you will live. In 122,000 adults tested on a treadmill, low cardiorespiratory fitness carried a mortality risk comparable to or greater than smoking, diabetes or heart disease, and there was no upper limit to the benefit3. In trials after heart attack and stroke, exercise programmes performed about as well as medicines for preventing death4.

Paul tells Timothy that “bodily exercise has some value, but godliness has value in all things” (1 Timothy 4:8). He ranks them; he does not dismiss either. The body is where we serve from.

Walk

Across fifteen cohorts on four continents, more daily steps meant lower mortality up to about 6,000 to 8,000 steps for adults over sixty and 8,000 to 10,000 for younger adults5. Sixty to seventy-five minutes of moderate activity a day appears to cancel the added mortality of sitting for eight hours6.

Short walks count. Breaking up sitting with a few minutes of light walking lowers blood sugar after meals more than standing does7. Ten minutes after dinner is one of the most effective and least glamorous habits in this plan.

Lift

Muscle-strengthening activity is associated with 10 to 17% lower risk of death, heart disease, cancer and diabetes, with the most benefit at just 30 to 60 minutes a week8. Grip strength predicted cardiovascular death better than systolic blood pressure in a study of 140,000 people across 17 countries9.

Muscle is where most blood sugar goes after a meal, which is why both aerobic and resistance training are recommended for diabetes, with no more than two days between sessions10. Exercise training lowers blood pressure too, by 5 to 8 mmHg in people with hypertension11.

For building muscle, total weekly sets matter more than any special method: about ten or more sets per muscle group a week produces more growth than fewer12. Beginners need far less. Two or three sets, taken close to but not into failure, two or three times a week, is enough to start13.

The woman of Proverbs 31 “arms her waist with strength, and makes her arms strong.” Strength in Scripture is for something: carrying, building, serving, standing.

Starting safely

If you have heart disease, chest pain, dizziness on exertion, uncontrolled blood pressure or diabetes treated with insulin, talk with your doctor before hard exercise. Almost everyone can begin walking today.

Progress one thing at a time: first show up, then add sets, then add load. Nehemiah's builders worked next to their own houses, one section each. Build the section in front of you.

References

  1. Bull FC et al. World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Br J Sports Med. 2020. PubMed 33239350 · Full text
  2. Arem H et al. Leisure time physical activity and mortality: a detailed pooled analysis of the dose-response relationship. JAMA Intern Med. 2015. PubMed 25844730 · Full text
  3. Mandsager K et al. Association of Cardiorespiratory Fitness With Long-term Mortality Among Adults Undergoing Exercise Treadmill Testing. JAMA Netw Open. 2018. PubMed 30646252 · Full text
  4. Naci H et al. Comparative effectiveness of exercise and drug interventions on mortality outcomes: metaepidemiological study. Br J Sports Med. 2015. PubMed 26476429 · Full text
  5. Paluch AE et al. Daily steps and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis of 15 international cohorts. Lancet Public Health. 2022. PubMed 35247352 · Full text
  6. Ekelund U et al. Does physical activity attenuate, or even eliminate, the detrimental association of sitting time with mortality? A harmonised meta-analysis of data from more than 1 million men and women. Lancet. 2016. PubMed 27475271 · Full text
  7. Buffey AJ et al. The Acute Effects of Interrupting Prolonged Sitting Time in Adults with Standing and Light-Intensity Walking on Biomarkers of Cardiometabolic Health in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Sports Med. 2022. PubMed 35147898 · Full text
  8. Momma H et al. Muscle-strengthening activities are associated with lower risk and mortality in major non-communicable diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. Br J Sports Med. 2022. PubMed 35228201 · Full text
  9. Leong DP et al. Prognostic value of grip strength: findings from the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study. Lancet. 2015. PubMed 25982160 · Full text
  10. Colberg SR et al. Physical Activity/Exercise and Diabetes: A Position Statement of the American Diabetes Association. Diabetes Care. 2016. PubMed 27926890 · Full text
  11. Cornelissen VA et al. Exercise training for blood pressure: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Am Heart Assoc. 2013. PubMed 23525435 · Full text
  12. Schoenfeld BJ et al. Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sports Sci. 2017. PubMed 27433992 · Full text
  13. Garber CE et al. American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Quantity and quality of exercise for developing and maintaining cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal, and neuromotor fitness in apparently healthy adults: guidance for prescribing exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2011. PubMed 21694556 · Full text

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