The WHO recommends adults do between 150 and 300 minutes of moderately strenuous physical activity each week, or between 75 minutes and 150 minutes of moderately strenuous physical activity.
But now the Cambridge study, based on data from up to 30 million people, shows that even half the recommended amount of exercise significantly reduces the risk of premature death.
Greatly reduced risk
The researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 196 existing studies.
They found that just 75 minutes a week of moderately strenuous activity, such as cycling, dancing, or walking briskly, reduced the risk of premature death by as much as 23 percent.
11 minutes of exercise a day was also enough to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by 17 percent and that of cancer by 7 percent.
‘We have found that it has a significant impact on your heart and your risk of cancer if you exercise for 10 minutes every day,’ says Professor James Woodcock, one of the researchers.
The calculations also showed that one in six premature deaths would have been prevented if all participants had done at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week. In addition, one in nine cases of cardiovascular disease and one in 20 cases of cancer would have been avoided.
If all participants had exercised 75 minutes a week, approximately one in 10 premature deaths, one in 20 cardiovascular diseases and one in 30 cancers would have been prevented.
The message is that it is not as difficult as many people think.
Being a little active is better than not being active at all. And if you find that 75 minutes of exercise a week is doable, you can try gradually increasing it to the full recommended amount,’ says Dr Soren Brage of the research team.