When it comes to exercise, even small changes can make a big difference to your health – no matter how active you are currently.
An extensive new study published this week in teh Lancet found that participants who increased their moderate-intensity physical activity by as little as five extra minutes a day substantially lowered their odds of dying early.
“Previous research has shown that higher levels of physical activity reduce the risk for premature mortality and many chronic diseases,” says the lead study author, Ulf Ekelund, PhD, a professor in physical activity and health at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences in Oslo.
“Here we estimated, for the first time, the number of deaths perhaps preventable by small increases in moderate intensity activity, such as brisk walking – 5 and 10 more minutes daily. We observed that 10 percent of all deaths [in the majority of adults] are preventable if everybody in the population makes these small changes.”
Along similar lines,Dr. Ekelund and his team found that cutting back on inactive time was also tied to gains in longevity.
Minor Changes can Have a Major Impact
For this analysis,the researchers pooled data (including device-measured physical activity and sedentary time) from seven studies in the United States,Norway,and Sweden,which included more then 135,000 adults. The participants were 64 on average,with about a 60/40 split between men and women. The studies followed subjects for an average of 8 years.
Researchers usually estimate preventable deaths related to exercise or the lack of it according to the World Health Organization’s physical activity recommendations,the study authors wrote.
The WHO guidelines recommend that adults ages 18 to 64 should:
- Get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity throughout the week, or do at least 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity, or some combination of both.
- For additional health benefits,adults should increase their moderate-intensity physical activity to 300 minutes per week,or the equivalent.
- Muscle-strengthening activities should be done involving major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week.
ekelund and his coauthors noted, though, that existing research frequently enough overlooks the benefit of small increases in activity, so they looked at the proportion of deaths preventable by slight daily increases in moderate physical activity and reductions in sedentary time.
When it came to modeling more exercise, researchers found:
- The majority
