Aerobic Exercise: Useless if less than 20 minutes?

Factual Questions
41

Thought it might be worth seeing if anyone believed there to have been a change in the thinking about fitness in the 18 yrs since this thread.

I recently started using a stationary bike for 20 minutes, followed by 5 min abs, 5 min stretch. 60 yrs old, in pretty decent shape. No real goals other than to keep the carcass moving - remain able to do house/yard chores, play w/ grandkids. Today after the bike, my HR was approx 160.

In warmer weather I bike a couple hours a couple times a week. And I used to swim, but COVID stopped that.

My philosophy is that the best exercise program is the one you can stick with, but I wondered if I was fooling myself into thinking this was any use.

42

Same here, I agree - i assume the purpose of exercise is to ensure the heart, the muscles, and the joints will continue working well. If you do this, you will be fine. If you can run a mile or lift a decent weight so you can do household chores and repairs- you are fine. If you need to look like Ahnold - that’s different. That’s not about fitness.