Just 11 minutes of moderate intensity exercise each day is all you need to lower your risk of dying early, Cambridge researchers say.
That amount of moderate intensity physical activity — such as a brisk walk — is enough to lower your risk of heart disease, stroke and some cancers, according to their study published today in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
National Health Services in England recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity a week for adults. To determine how how much is actually needed before you reap the benefits, researchers from the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge looked at results from 196 peer-reviewed articles that covered more than 30 million participants from 94 large study cohorts.
This observation produced “the largest analysis to date of the association between physical activity levels and risk of heart disease, cancer, and early death,” Cambridge wrote in a press release.
According to their findings, two out of three people reported fewer than 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity, and not even 1 in 10 got in more than 300 minutes each week.
The researchers found that more than 150 minutes each week provided no additional benefits, but just half that amount lowered the risk of early death by 23%.
“If you are someone who finds the idea of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week a bit daunting, then our findings should be good news,” Dr. Soren Brage, from the MRC Epidemiology Unit, said in the press release. “Doing some physical activity is better than doing none. This is also a good starting position — if you find that 75 minutes a week is manageable, then you could try stepping it up gradually to the full recommended amount.”
Just 75 minutes of moderate activity each week was enough to lower the risk of developing cardiovascular disease by 17% and cancer by 7%, the researchers stated in the press release. For head and neck, myeloid leukaemia, myeloma and gastric cardia cancers, the reduction in risk was greater — 14-26% lower. For other cancers, such as lung, liver, endometrial, colon and breast cancer, a 3-11% lower risk was observed.
“Moderate activity doesn’t have to involve what we normally think of exercise, such as sports or running,” Dr. Leandro Garcia from Queen’s University Belfast said in the press release. “Sometimes, replacing some habits is all that is needed. For example, try to walk or cycle to your work or study place instead of using a car, or engage in active play with your kids or grand kids. Doing activities that you enjoy and that are easy to include in your weekly routine is an excellent way to become more active.”
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