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I don't think 30 mins, 3 times a week of exercise is remotely close

only stretching back a few decades, my grandfather was working his own land as a subsistence farmer without much "automation"...probably doing the equivalent of three hours of CrossFit a day, basically every day. looking back at pics of him now...he was strapped, even in his late 70s (what was also known as "normal").

my genetics probably come from hundreds of generations of people who led similar lives, yours too

I achieved my "normal" body weight with a minimum of two+ hours per day, every day, of exercise...just like all of my ancestors who shaped my genes

90 mins a week is probably not enough to even slow down weight gain, we are dramatically underestimating how much exercise we need, and dramatically underestimating how much we need to clean up our diets...in 1880 basically anyone doing subsistence farming (most people) was the equivalent of a CrossFit nut with a "clean" diet...everyone

I don’t have the energy to refute these claims one by one, but I would recommend you do some more research into the lifestyles and health conditions of previous generations.

Glad you’ve found something that works for you though

5 hours per week of 3 METs (a 2.5mph walk is 3 METs) reduces your risk of Cardiac disease by 70%. This is from one of the bigger meta analyses I’ve ever read. The US’s exercise guidelines are based on it.

In general more is better, but it’s diminishing returns, and you could argue that more time than this could be better spent doing other healthy tasks.

Never heard the term MET before- it's this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolic_equivalent_of_task

> The more cardio the better, so consider endurance sports.

The research vehemently disagrees with you, especially if you’re a woman.

I’ve never heard anyone claim that less exercise is better. Can you point to the research that “vehemently disagrees”?

I assume they are referring to research that suggests that heavy resistance training accomplishes everything you get from cardio, plus more.

I think the idea is that there are diminishing returns. 1 versus 2 hours of exercise per week is significant, but 21 vs 22 hours of exercise per week is not.

It’s one of the most researched topics in science.

5 hours at 3 MET (a 2.5 mph walk is 3 MET) a week lowers your risk of cardiac disease by 70%. It’s not affected by gender for the basic numbers. This is from one of the bigger meta analyses I’ve ever read. The US’s exercise guidelines are based on it.

Can’t speak for the recommendation of endurance sports. Definitely not a requirement. The research does show that, in general, the more cardio the better.

Of course I've heard it. As you said, the odds are excellent that everyone reading this has heard it too.

And I actually do all of that. Not because anyone told me to, or because I should, but because that's just how my life ended up being arranged.

Not sure how that's related to my point, though.

Just that everyone's heard it, so the doctor isn't going to repeat it to you with every visit.

I think a doctor absolutely should gently remind people that those things improve a variety of conditions, and occasionally push a little harder in certain situations (you need to start doing X now or your condition is going to be a big problem). Many of them already do, of course.

Sure, a doctor isn't necessarily going to give generic health advice on every visit. That wasn't what I was saying.

What I was saying is that if I go see a doctor for a condition, and the proper way to resolve that condition is to make a lifestyle change, then that is what I want the doctor to tell me.

What I don't want the doctor to do is to just give me a prescription if the actual treatment is to behave differently in some way.

But difficult to treat chronic conditions aren’t that straightforward, and virtually all of them respond to general good health as outlined on that list.

Everything else is either a straightforward treatment, is untreatable, or has a lifestyle change that the doctor will tell you about (like with IBS and a low FODMAP diet for instance).

I agree. That isn't counter to what I was saying at all.

> Don’t drink more than 2 drinks in a day

Just to clarify, because this one tripped me up: you specifically mean alcohol, right?

In american english "drinks" is a common colloquialism for alcoholic drinks. You should definitely drink more water than that with your cardio haha.

Good; I was worried I'd stumbled into some some paleo-esque "only drink from puddles at dawn and dusk to maximize your gut flora development" nonsense.

I have some struggles, and this is basically the plan that I try to follow. I can notice how it really helps with mood, energy, everything, and how a single day of falling off it leaves a big mark the next few days. Cheers.

I'll tell you what your doctor might not be telling you, doctors have the highest suicide rates of any profession. Should I trust them to tell me what is healthy?

Retail managers have the lowest suicide rates.

I don't trust them either.

Not sure where you're getting that, but the CDC indicates that oil and gas extraction workers top the list in terms of suicide risk- doctor suicide stats aren't high enough to even make the list.

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6903a1.htm