How Much Exercise is Really Necessary?

Recently, the Institute of Medicine (the same folks who informed us that medical errors are killing more than 90,000 Americans each year) applied their formidable statistical powers to another topic of interest: exercise. Their report, entitled Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids, is a mouthful in more ways than one. (You can read the entire 1000 + pages for yourself, here.) Among the more startling conclusions coming out of this report is that, in order to maintain our cardiovascular health, we all need to engage in vigorous exercise for at least 60 minutes a day.

DrRich does not wish to initiate a statistical battle with the IOM, as this is one type of battle he knows he cannot win. He merely wishes to suggest (while peering humbly into the Ivory Tower) that to decree that we all must exercise an hour a day is breathtakingly, boneheadedly unnecessary, impractical and counterproductive. You can read DrRich's impeccably reasoned critique of the IOM report, as well as an alternative exercise recommendation that can be followed by actual human people, here.