You don’t have to run marathons or spend hours at the local gym to live a healthier life, a new British study indicates that a brisk walk a day is enough. If everyone exercised about 11 minutes a day, one in ten premature deaths could be prevented, the BBC writes.
Most people fail to get the minimum recommended 150 minutes of exercise per week, which equates to about 21 minutes per day. Although any form of exercise, no matter how little, is better than doing nothing, say the researchers from the University of Cambridge.
The health care industry recommends that everyone get about 150 to 300 minutes each week of exercise in a way that raises their heart rate, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous activity that makes you breathe harder. “You should feel yourself moving, your heart will beat faster but you won’t necessarily feel out of breath,” says Dr Soren Brage, who led the study.
From hundreds of previous studies on the benefits of exercise, the researchers concluded that even half the recommended amount could prevent one in 20 cases of cardiovascular disease and almost one in 30 cases of cancer. That equates to 75 minutes of exercise per week, or 11 minutes per day. That amount is enough to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke by 17%, as well as cancer by 7%, the findings show.
It is well known that regular exercise is healthy, as it reduces body fat and blood pressure, and in the long term it also improves fitness, sleep and heart health. The study found that the benefits of exercise were even greater for certain specific cancers, such as head and neck cancer, stomach cancer, leukemia and blood cancer, but lower for lung cancer, liver cancer, endometrial cancer, colon cancer and breast cancer.
Not easy
Not everyone finds it easy to comply with recommended physical activity, two in three people say they exercise moderately for less than 21 minutes a day and less than one in ten do more than 43 minutes a day. “If you’re someone who finds the idea of 150 minutes of moderate physical activity a week a little daunting, our findings are good news,” says Dr. Brage.
The study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, looked at previous research on the benefits of exercise in nearly 100 large studies and nearly 200 peer-reviewed papers to get an overview of the evidence. The team calculated that if everyone in these studies exercised at least 150 minutes per week, 21 minutes instead of 11 minutes per day, about one in six premature deaths could be prevented.
Replacing some habits is enough, according to the researchers. For example, instead of taking the car to work or the store, you can jump on your bike.
Adults are recommended to do activities that strengthen the muscles twice a week. Those activities can vary a lot, for example, yoga, pilates, lifting weights, heavy gardening, and lifting heavy shopping bags all count.
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