Including exercise in everyday life healthier than gym

Level 2 l Upper intermediate

1 Warmer
Which three of these five methods are, in your opinion, the most effective for keeping fit? Tick them. Why
did you choose them?
walking for 30 minutes a day
cleaning your flat or house with a vacuum cleaner
washing the car
using the stairs rather than taking the lift
going to the supermarket

2 Key words
Complete the sentences using these adjectives from the text. The paragraph numbers are given to
help you.

moderate sedentary high-tech prosperous taxing

beneficial premature stressed out brisk aerobic

1. A _______________________ event happens too soon or before the usual time. (para 2)
2. If you are feeling _______________________, you are very tired, worried and unable to relax. (para 3)
3. If a job or a task is _______________________, it is difficult and involves a lot of effort. (para 4)
4. If someone is _______________________, they are rich. (para 4)
5. If you go for a _______________________ walk, you walk quickly. (para 7)
6. If something is described as _______________________, it is neither very great nor very small in amount,
size, strength or degree. (para 8)
7. _______________________ exercise is a very active type of exercise that makes your heart and lungs
stronger. (para 8)
8. _______________________ medical treatment uses the most modern or advanced technology available.
(para 10)
9. A _______________________ lifestyle involves a lot of sitting and not much exercise. (para 11)
10. If something is _______________________, it has a good effect. (para 11)

3 Find the information

Find the following information in the text as quickly as possible.
1. How many people were compared in the new global study?
2. How many countries were compared in the study?
3. How much exercise per day do most guidelines recommend?
4. If you sit a lot in your job, how often should you get up for a walk around?
5. If people do 750 minutes of brisk walking per week, by what percentage is their risk of premature death reduced?
6. What percentage of the world’s population do not meet the physical activity guidelines?
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NEWS LESSONS / Including exercise in everyday life healthier than gym / Upper intermediate
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Including exercise in everyday life healthier than gym
Level 2 l Upper intermediate
Get up, stand up: including exercise
in everyday life healthier than gym,
says study
Sarah Boseley
21 September, 2017
1 According to the author of a major new global
study, incorporating physical activity into our
everyday lives is more likely to protect us
from heart disease and an early death than
gym membership.
2 The study, published in a UK medical journal,
found that one in 20 cases of heart disease
and one in 12 premature deaths around the
world could be prevented if people were more
physically active. It compared 130,000 people
in 17 countries, from rich countries like Canada
and Sweden to some of the poorest, including
Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.
3 Most guidelines recommend 30 minutes of
exercise per day for five days a week. While
this reduces heart disease and deaths, one to
two hours a day is the ideal amount of physical
activity, said lead author Professor Scott Lear.
Most people will think they cannot incorporate
that much physical activity into their life, he
said. “They will think ‘I’m stressed out and have
to make dinner – and then do exercise for two
hours!’” he said.
4 But the study showed that those people who
have the highest activity levels are those for
whom physical activity is part of their everyday
working lives. In developing countries, more
people still have physically taxing jobs but as they
become more prosperous, their activity levels fall.
“They are going from sweeping the floor to buying
a vacuum,” said Lear.
5 He does not suggest selling the vacuum cleaner
but we could all incorporate more activity into our
lives rather than occasionally going to the gym
or swimming pool. “Sitting for hours is not good
for hearts or the physical body,” he said. “Getting
up every 20 to 30 minutes for a walk around is
good for you. We spend a lot of time in meetings.
If it is just two or three people, why not have a
walkaround meeting?”
6 He also suggests playing with children in the park
rather than sitting watching them, increasing the
walk to work by getting off the tube or bus early
and taking the stairs rather than the lift.
© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2017
NEWS LESSONS / Including exercise in everyday life healthier than gym / Upper intermediate
7 The authors found that the more physically active
people were, the lower their risk of heart disease
or an early death. “Participating at even low
physical activity brings benefit and the benefit
continues to increase up to high total physical
activity,” says the study. People who did more
than 750 minutes of brisk walking or equivalent
activity per week reduced their risk of premature
death by 36%.
8 The World Health Organization recommends
that adults aged 18–64 years old do at least 150
minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical
activity throughout the week, as well as muscle
strengthening exercises at least two days a
week. But it is thought that almost a quarter
(23%) of the world’s population do not meet
these guidelines.
9 The study is the first to compare physical activity
and heart disease levels in both rich and poor
countries. “The clear results show that exercise
truly is the best medicine we have for reducing
the chances of an early death,” said Dr James
Rudd, a senior lecturer in cardiovascular
medicine at the University of Cambridge. “If a
drug company came up with a medicine as effective
as exercise, they would have a billion-dollar product
and would win a Nobel Prize.”
10 “There is a trend for more heart disease in
lower income groups both within and between
populations,” said John Martin, professor of
cardiovascular medicine at University College
London. “In the UK, it has been shown that
lower social class is associated with more heart
disease. Walking is easy and cheap. This study
should encourage governments to spend less
money on high-tech treatment of heart disease
and more on promoting simple strategies of
prevention like walking.”
11 Professor Metin Avkiran of the British Heart
Foundation said: “In an age where we’re living
increasingly busy but often sedentary lives in the
West, incorporating physical activity into our daily
routines has never been more important, not only
to improve our physical health but also overall
well-being. Increased physical activity could have
an even greater beneficial impact in lower income
countries, due to its low cost and the high level of
heart disease in those countries.”
© Guardian News and Media 2017
First published in The Guardian, 21/09/17
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Including exercise in everyday life healthier than gym
Level 2 l Upper intermediate
4 Comprehension check
Answer the questions according to the text.

1. What is the ideal amount of physical activity per day?

2. What happens when people in developing countries become more prosperous?
3. What does the author of the study recommend if there are only two or three people in a meeting?
4. How can you increase your physical activity if you travel by tube or bus?
5. How often should people do muscle-strengthening exercises?
6. Which example of physical activity is ‘easy and cheap’.

5 Find the word

Find the following words and phrases in the text.

1. a verb meaning add or include something as part of something else (para 1)

2. a plural noun meaning official instructions or advice about how to do something (para 3)
3. a two-word noun meaning a piece of electrical equipment that cleans floors by sucking up dirt (para 5)
4. an adverb meaning sometimes but not frequently or regularly (para 5)
5. an adjective meaning with the same size, value, importance etc as something else (para 7)
6. a noun meaning the possibility that something unpleasant or dangerous might happen (para 7)
7. a three-word phrasal verb meaning think of something such as an idea or a plan (para 9)
8. a noun meaning the satisfactory state that someone should be in that involves being happy, healthy and safe
(para 11)

6 Two-word phrases
Match the words in the left-hand column with those in the right-hand column to make expressions from
the text.

1. physical a. country
2. medical b. activity
3. developing c. well-being
4. heart d. company
5. overall e. journal
6. drug f. disease
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NEWS LESSONS / Including exercise in everyday life healthier than gym / Upper intermediate
CA O
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Including exercise in everyday life healthier than gym
Level 2 l Upper intermediate
7 Words followed by prepositions
Complete the phrases using these prepositions. Check your answers in the text.

for with of into on from

1. incorporate ________
2. protect ________
3. not good ________
4. a risk ________
5. associate ________
6. spend money ________

8 Discussion
Discuss the statements.
• Eating healthily has a bigger effect on your health than exercise.
• Exercise is dangerous – even very fit people have heart attacks and athletes suffer more injuries than
non-athletes.

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NEWS LESSONS / Including exercise in everyday life healthier than gym / Upper intermediate
CA O
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Including exercise in everyday life healthier than gym
Level 2 l Upper intermediate
KEY

2 Key words 5 Find the word

1. premature 1. incorporate
2. stressed out 2. guidelines
3. taxing 3. vacuum cleaner
4. prosperous 4. occasionally
5. brisk 5. equivalent
6. moderate 6. risk
7. aerobic 7. come up with
8. high-tech 8. well-being
9. sedentary
10. beneficial
6 Two-word phrases

3 Find the information 1. b

2. e
1. 130,000 3. a
2. 17 4. f
3. 30 minutes 5. c
4. every 20 to 30 minutes 6. d
5. 36%
6. 23%
7 Words followed by prepositions

4 Comprehension check 1. into

2. from
1. one to two hours 3. for
2. their activity levels fall 4. of
3. having a walkaround meeting 5. with
4. by getting off the tube or bus early 6. on
5. at least two days a week
6. walking
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NEWS LESSONS / Including exercise in everyday life healthier than gym / Upper intermediate
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