Lets Go METs!
Sunday Health Newsletter, September 18th, 2022
Exercise like it’s your job.
- Henry Lodge, MD, Author of Younger Next Year
David Beruh is certified as an ACE Health Coach and NASM Personal Trainer. This newsletter is for educational purposes. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Consult your healthcare provider to determine the suitability of this information or with questions about a medical condition, treatment, or lifestyle change.
The key question for the New York Mets is will the two best pitchers in baseball, Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom be healthy come playoff time. However, that is not the METs I am discussing today.
One way to measure how much exercise you are doing is by calculating METs, which stands for Metabolic Equivalents. Two METs is defined as requiring twice the exertion as being at rest. For example, walking the dog at a leisurely pace is about 2 METs. If you take your dog on a 60-minute walk that is a total of 2 MET Hours, if you walk was only 30 minutes that is 1 MET hour (0.5 Hours x 2 Mets = 1 MET Hour).[1]
We all know we should exercise but how much exercise is optimal and is there a minimum effective dose? The Pareto Principle says 80% of your results come from 20% of your actions. So, is there a 20% of exercise that will get us 80% of the benefits? Dr. Peter Attia says yes:
“Based on so-so epidemiologic data about 50% of the benefit of exercise is captured going from nothing to about 15 MET / hours per week. … The point is that you can get 30 to 50 percent of the benefit, depending on the study, from being completely sedentary to 15 MET hours per week is pretty amazing.[2]”
Dr. Attia, who is focuses on longevity optimization, says he does about 6 times that amount of exercise or about 100 MET/Hours per week.
The U.S. Government recommends a minimum of 150 minutes a week of moderate intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity exercise.[3]
For example, walking at a 3 MPH pace for 150 minutes would be 7.5 METs (3 METs x 2.5 Hours). So, to hit Attia’s 15 METs per week mark you would need to walk about 5 hours a week at 3 MPH pace.
Another thing you can do is count your steps (if you have an iPhone, your steps are automatically tracked by the pre-installed Apple Health app. You can get to the 15 miles with a little over 5,000 steps a day (about 2 miles).
If you like to go faster you can run a 10K (6.2 Miles) at a 10 minute per mile pace, would exert about 10 METs. So, running 3 miles in 30 minutes 3 times a week, would also get you to 15 METs
There are plenty of charts online to determine METs for different exercises, here is one.
Remember though this is the bare minimum to get one-third to half of the benefits of exercise. But a good exercise program is more than just walking or jogging. It should include cardiovascular training (both sprint and endurance), strength, flexibility, and balance.
“Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.”
Jillian Michaels
And there is such a thing as too much, as the U-Curve of exercise shows.
Over training can degrade your health, major signs and symptoms include:
Recurrent or prolonged injuries like tendinitis or stress fractures.
Illnesses caused by decreased immune system function.
Decreased performance (getting slower or weaker).
Amenorrhea, or the absence of periods in women.
Chronic fatigue.
Rapid loss of lean body weight (weight loss without body fat loss).
Increase in morning resting heart rate.[4]
My bottom-line takeaway is that you should try to do something every day. Especially if you are young, you have the advantage of faster recovery, so typically you can go harder and spend less time exercising and still get results. And if you are older, especially if you are retired, you should take to heart Dr. Henry Lodge’s advice in the opening quote and treat exercising as your new job. Something you must do every day.
Wait let me reframe that, exercise is something you get to do every day. Remember the maxim use it or lose it. Exercise should be fun, so find something fun to do and as the saying goes “just do it.”
Everyone knows the key to living healthy is "eat right and exercise". So why is losing weight on your own so hard?
With so much conflicting advice it's almost impossible to figure out what actually works. Not to mention, eating bland food and exhausting workouts does not sound like fun.
Grand Strand Health Coaching provides custom plans for your exact situation, no matter what your age or current physical condition.
Getting started is quick and easy.
1. Take a quick questionnaire - assess your current health and determine your goals
2. Get a custom plan - Get results with Motivation, Information and Accountability built into every session
3. Start looking and feeling better - small changes over time get big results
Schedule your free consultation at: www.DaveBeruh.com or Text: 610-235-7567 or email: DaveBeruh@GMail.com
[1] https://www.healthline.com/health/what-are-mets#calculation
[2] https://peterattiamd.com/mattkaeberlein3/?utm_source=podcast-feed&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=220912-pod-mattkaeberlein3&utm_content=220912-pod-mattkaeberlein3-podfeed
[3] https://health.gov/sites/default/files/2019-10/PAG_ExecutiveSummary.pdf
[4] https://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/diet-fitness/information/risks-of-overtraining.htm
