Massive study finds out how much exercise it takes to live longer

Constant exercise is good for a person’s health and well-being; that is well known. But how many minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity are needed to reduce the risk of mortality? TO study published in the journal Circulation shared findings about how much and what level of physical activity is needed to reduce mortality.

While the 2018 physical activity guidelines. recommend that adults get at least 150 to 300 minutes per week of moderate exercise, 75 to 150 minutes each week of vigorous movement, or an equivalent combination of both intensities, it turns out that if adults do more than the recommended amount, it can reduce their risk of death. Moderate physical activity is defined as walking, lifting weights, and lower intensity exercise. Meanwhile, vigorous exercise is classified as running, cycling, and swimming.

From two large US prospective cohorts, 116,221 adults reported leisure-time physical activity (defined as exercise not performed at work) via a validated questionnaire. The questionnaire was repeated up to 15 times over 30 years.

The study found that exercising two to four times beyond the minimum recommendations for vigorous physical activity led to a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease. Those who exercised two to four times more than the moderate physical activity recommendations (about 300 to 599 minutes per week) saw the greatest benefit.

Participants who performed two to four times the recommended amount of moderate physical activity had a 26% to 31% lower all-cause mortality and a 28% to 38% lower risk of cardiovascular disease mortality. In addition to that, a 25% to 27% lower risk of mortality from non-cardiovascular diseases was observed.

Additionally, according to the study, adults who exercised two to four times the recommended amount of vigorous physical activity (about 150 to 299 minutes per week) were found to have a 21% to 23% lower risk of all-cause mortality. They were also reported to have a 27% to 33% lower risk of mortality from cardiovascular diseases and a 19% lower risk of mortality from non-cardiovascular diseases.

“A substantially lower risk of mortality was observed among people who had adequate levels of moderate and vigorous leisure-time physical activity over the long term,” the study says, noting that higher levels of vigorous physical activity were associated with lower mortality among those with insufficient levels of moderate physical activity each week.

But this was not the case for those who already had high levels of moderate physical activity (more than 300 minutes per week). The study notes that “any combination of medium to high levels” of vigorous (75 to 300 minutes per week) and moderate (150 to 600 minutes per week) physical activity “can provide almost the maximum reduction in mortality,” which is around 35% to 42%.

Additionally, people who are not sufficiently active (i.e., less than 75 minutes per week of vigorous physical activity or less than 150 minutes of moderate physical activity) could gain greater benefits in reducing mortality by adding modest levels of either exercise. This is equivalent to 75 to 150 minutes per week of vigorous exercise or 150 to 300 minutes per week of moderate physical activity. Meeting the minimum of moderate and vigorous activity can reduce mortality from cardiovascular diseases by between 22% and 31%.

TO separate study published in JAMA Oncology shows that small amounts of vigorous, intermittent lifestyle physical activity were associated with a lower risk of cancer. This refers to short, sporadic bouts of vigorous physical activity during daily life, such as very brisk walking or climbing stairs for about one to two minutes.

While younger people tend to choose vigorous activities more frequently, older adults choose moderate levels of exercise. However, there was no evidence to show that one was better than the other in older compared to younger people.

Instead, in addition to long-term moderate physical activity, “long-term vigorous physical activity in generally healthy older adults may be an effective means of improving health,” the study says.

“It is well documented that regular, light or moderate physical activity prevents” cardiovascular diseases, the study states. “But previous studies also showed evidence that long-term high-intensity endurance exercise (e.g., marathons, triathlons, long-distance cycling races) can cause adverse events such as myocardial fibrosis, coronary artery calcification, and atrial fibrillation, as well as sudden cardiac death.”

However, this study suggests that prolonged, intense physical activity has no detrimental effect on cardiovascular health. But more studies are needed.