Why does it always have to be "The Best"? Most people would benefit from at least doing something, no matter what. All this obsession with finding the best causes a lot of people to do nothing instead.
It does seem rather a shabby article. Out of all the ways we can imagine exercising, they compare 3 very mild approaches (plus not exercising) and someone proclaims one of them "the best"!?
If you want to find an "optimal" exercise, you'll need to specify a function you're trying to minimize. Might be time to run a marathon, or time to swim a mile in the ocean, or some blend of performance/hours_invested.
Of course, some people do this, e.g., folks trying to win Boston, etc. And even here, where the goal is clear cut, the absolute best approach is not at all obvious.
I'm not sure exactly what the issue is, but people like to use their time and expend effort as efficiently as possible - or at least have a sense of what kind of practice or process to aspire to.
In my experience, pople like to use their time and expend effort to research the optimal solution instead of implementing any solution, ignoring the waste cost of their research and ignoring that "research" is a sneaky way to avoid expending effort on making progress.
"Me, too" is frowned upon because it doesn't add much of substance to the conversation, yet feels like a contribution. Adding specifics about why you like it, providing relevant details, not only conveys your recommendation, but also is a beneficial contribution to the discussion.
I think the trick is making it into a habit/addiction.
Plus--everyone is physically different. I'm about forty pounds over weight. At this point, I honestly don't know what fat, and muscle. And don't care.
I briskly walk for 30-45 minutes nightly. I have a route that includes a hill. I do sweat. I figure I'm carrying around a sack of flour, so I don't need to push it too hard.
When I get home, my depression lifts. I drink less. I'm less anxious.
I definetly use that brisk walk as a a drug. If your fat, like myself, you don't need to go all out. Your legs are most likely stronger than skinny people--from carrying around that sack of potatoes.
Oh yea, my dad was an electrician. He definetly got exercise at work. It was only when he retired did he need to do a little bit of exercise. He didn't. He just drank. He died too early.
My laboring point is you don't need to exercise to extremes in order to feel a bit better, lower blood glocose, and lower blood pressure. A moderately fat guy can be healthy.
Doctors just look at you physically, and make generalizations. Kinda--like the rest of the world!
Overselling a bit there. I've never felt anything I'd qualify as euphoria from exercising. The closest is the runners high which is, for me at least, really not that high.
I used wording from others, maybe it's a bit strong I don't know.
I know the runners' high too, the runners' crave also. And long walks (forest + small hills) does something a bit different because it's a low intensity effort. Yet after 40+min you can go from depressed to a thin and constant "life is beautiful" background emotional state. That's all.
All in all the takeaway point is: doing something stupidly simple for long can change your mood quite surprisingly.
May I add that when my cardio vascular system was fubared, this kind of walks (moderate uphill) was the only thing that could interact with my body the right way. Being almost bed ridden, but an ex athlete I tried running, jogging, biking, indoor biking, taichi, stepping. They were either too demanding and injuring (for my very weak self) or of low efficacy. Yet walking had the right rhythm, full body muscle use, right intensity to circulate blood everywhere. You can guess how good it is to finally feel warm blood reaching your fingers or toes. It also helps your breathing, lungs ..
I know it gets said a lot, but I really think it comes down to doing something you really enjoy. I play volleyball 2-3 times a week, and it never feels like something I'm just doing to slow the rate at which my body decays.
I play basketball for 30-45 minutes everyday. It made all the difference for me getting back into good shape - feel good shape - and I do hit some of the euphoria every once in a while as well. Plus, after some years of this, sugar, cholesterol, tsh, etc. are back to normal. I'm not so sure about BP trends but am tracking it. I hope it helps there as well.
30 minutes of solid, constant cardio leaves me with a feeling similar to a light (marijuana) high, but longer lasting and with none of the mental fog. Not euphoria, but certainly a high.
The euphoria comes from pushing yourself past what you believed your limits to be. One of the biggest adrenaline/testosterone rushes of my life was from a 600lb deadlift. The feeling was so intense, I felt like I could tear someone limb from limb with my bare hands for about a minute after that.
Why the downvotes? A study of the difference in American english found that extremes like "the best thing ever" or "the worst" are more common of American english. I read this study a few years ago so I don't have a citation but I could find it if I waste enough time looking.
