Study Says Watching Movies In A Theatre Is Considered A "Light Workout"

If one of your new year’s resolutions was to become more active and work out more than your usual routine then good news has come your way from University College London. According to The Daily Mail, the post-secondary institution held a study that finds that attending a movie theater to watch a film is considered a “light workout.”

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A test was conducted on a group of 51 individuals who watched the latest Aladdin film as their heart rates were being monitored, in comparison to a group of 26 people reading. The cinema-goers had 45 minutes of being in a “healthy heart zone” as their heartbeat was at 40 and 80 percent of its maximum rate.

“At the cinema specifically, there is nothing else to do except immerse yourself,” Neuroscience professor at UCL, Dr Joseph Devlin, said. “On top of this, our ability to sustain focus and attention plays a critical role in building our mental resilience, because problem-solving typically requires a concentrated effort to overcome obstacles. In other words, our ability to work through problems without distraction makes us better able to solve problems and makes us more productive.”

He added: “In a world where it is increasingly difficult to step away from our devices, this level of sustained focus is good for us.”