Men's Health : Men Live Less Healthy Lives

Men tend to lead unhealthier lives than women, according to a recent study by Ingo Froboese, a professor of sports science in the German city of Cologne.

Froboese's study found that men tended to sit for 300 minutes a day, 60 minutes more than women. Sitting for long periods and lack of movement are seen as health risk factors.

Men's attitude to movement and exercise needs to change, the professor believes. "An active lifestyle means exercise that is enjoyable and makes you happy - something you like doing," he says.

Clearly men have quite different aims in this regard from those of women, according to Froboese.

"Men have to try out what suits them, what they like doing and how they can integrate it into their daily lives," he says. But they should ensure that by the end of the week they have been moving for at least 30 minutes at a stretch.

"Someone who is keen may, of course, gradually increase the length of the sessions," he says, cautioning, however, that there should not be more than five training sessions a week, as muscles need time to recover.

"Anyone doing intensive training of the muscles should rest the muscles from this kind of activity for about 48 hours."

Weight training remains popular among men, but there are also suitable endurance sports such as mountain biking, cycling, swimming and running. "There should be intervals of 12 to 24 hours between endurance sessions," Froboese says.

He notes that these typically masculine sports are challenging, while also offering the opportunity for socializing.

Froboese believes men have not completely lost touch with a healthy lifestyle, but they do have to be put on the right track.

He attributes the sedentary male lifestyle to a range of factors, including spending more time driving, in management positions and spending their free time watching sport on television.

Copyright 2012 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH