04-05-2025
I feel sorry for the huffing hordes who believe painful exertion is necessary for health
It was during speculation around the recent illness of Pope Francis earlier this year that the penny dropped. Some had already buried the poor man before he recovered and had even elected a successor to occupy the sede vacante ('the seat being vacant'), a term used by the Vatican to describe that period between popes.
'Bless my sweet soul,' says I to myself, 'but surely that's the root of one of my favourite words – sedentary?' And, I was right. It's remarkable that it took me years to cop that.
Little gives me greater pleasure of an evening than to sit out, beverage in hand, as the world runs by, puffing and sweating in miserable pursuit of the body-perfect, some carrying as much body fat as the Famine statues on Custom House Quay in Dublin.
'This is the life,' I tell myself, raising a glass in salute to the huffing hordes hurtling past. But it's hard to admire the vanity. The ones I do feel for are those who believe such painful exertion is necessary for health reasons. It is not, as Dr Muiris Houston
made clear
in this newspaper recently.
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Addressing those who celebrate 'the sedentary', he asks a most seductive question: 'What's the least amount of exercise you can get away with?'
He continues: 'From a starting point of virtually zero exercise, an hour or two a week of leisurely cycling or moderately paced walking might be all you need to reduce your risk of death from cardiovascular disease by as much as 20 per cent.'
Sweetest of all, he adds: 'The benefits appear to max out after four to six hours exercise a week – with no additional gains beyond this point for most people.'
He also noted how academics in Sydney had found that risk of premature death was reduced by at least 10 per cent if, on a daily basis, people slept a minimum of 15 minutes more, added an extra 1.6 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical exercise and ate another half a serving of vegetables. No bother.
There's a similar benefit to doing all the week's exercises over a weekend. And spending just 15 minutes a day outside in nature is enough to boost your mood, concentration and physical health. Sláinte!
Sedentary, from Latin sedere 'to sit, occupy an official seat'.
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