When it comes to exercise, even small changes can make a big difference to your health — no matter how active you are currently.
“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 potentially 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 than 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.
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, however, that existing research often 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 of adults get about 17 minutes of moderate-intensity activity a day. An extra 5 minutes could lead to a 10 percent reduction in all deaths. An extra 10 minutes was tied to a 15 percent reduction.
- For the least-active adults, who get about 2 minutes of moderate-intensity activity a day, an extra 5 minutes could lead to a 6 percent reduction in all deaths, and 10 extra minutes to a 9 percent reduction.
When they modeled less sedentary time, they found:
- The majority of adults are sedentary for 10 hours on average every day. Reducing that inactive time by 30 minutes could lead to an estimated 7 percent reduction in all deaths. One hour less of inactivity could lead to a 13 percent reduction in all deaths.
- For the most sedentary adults, who spend an average of 12 hours of inactive time each day, reducing that by 30 minutes could lead to a 3 percent reduction in all deaths.
“Public health messages often say that ‘every minute of activity counts’ and ‘any activity is better than no activity,’” says Bethany Barone Gibbs, PhD, a professor and the chair of the department of epidemiology and biostatistics at the West Virginia University School of Public Health in Morgantown, who was not involved in the study.
“But I don’t see much information about how smaller increases in activity could improve health. It would be great to get the whole population to the 150 minutes per week goal, but this study shows the potentially big impact of the much more feasible change of just 5 minutes per day.”
Ways to Get More Activity in Your Life
Walking is a great activity to add a little more movement to your day, but there are plenty of other small changes that can add up quickly, Ekelund says — for example, take the stairs instead of the elevator, and ride a bike instead of driving short distances.
Other activities he suggests:
- Scrubbing the floor
- Gardening and weeding
- Salsa and swing dancing
- Strolling after dinner
- Playing softball
- Golfing (pulling clubs and walking)
- Mowing the lawn
- Bicycling at a casual pace
More vigorous activities include:
- Hiking and backpacking
- Weight lifting
- Climbing
- Tennis
- Swimming
- Rowing
- Jumping rope
- Running
Ekelund emphasizes that more activity also cuts risks related to chronic diseases, such as diabetes.
“All physical activity may reduce blood [sugar levels], although more vigorous intensity may be more beneficial,” he says.
More Research Needed
The authors say that as an observational study, their results show a relationship between activity and living longer, but do not establish for certain that more activity causes longevity.
But the large number of participants and physical activity data captured by tracking devices make these observational findings “robust,” Ekelund says.
“This study does help people see that adding 5 minutes a day of activity is a great place to start and definitely better than staying where they are,” says Gibbs, who volunteers as an expert for the American Heart Association and serves on its Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health. “Small amounts of activity matter!”