In a new study, researchers found the physical activity of any intensity is beneficial for health, but more intense activity has greater benefits.
They analyzed data from more than 96,000 UK Biobank participants.
The research was conducted by a team at the University of Cambridge and elsewhere.
Current physical activity guidelines from the UK recommend that adults should aim to be active every day, and also that adults should undertake 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity (equivalent to a brisk walk) or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity (such as running) every week.
Previous research has shown that moderate and vigorous-intensity activity confers greater health benefits than light-intensity activity, but it has not been clear if this is because it makes a greater contribution to the total amount of physical activity, or if it has additional health benefits beyond this.
In the study, the researchers used data from 96,476 middle-aged adults in Great Britain to see whether the activity of moderate-intensity or above contributed to a lower risk of death.
These people wore a research-grade activity tracker on their dominant wrist for a week as part of their participation in the UK Biobank study.
The researchers examined if physical activity levels were associated with the risk of death in the follow-up period of on average 3.1 years.
They found expending more energy of any intensity was strongly associated with a lower risk of death over the following three years.
Participants who accumulated 20 kJ/kg/day through physical activity were a third less likely to die compared to those who accumulated 15 kJ/kg/day, when the proportion from at least moderate-intensity activity was 10% in both cases.
The additional activity is equivalent to a 35-minute stroll, with an extra two minutes at a brisker pace.
Those who accumulated 30 kJ/kg/day were about half as likely to die in the follow-up period compared to those who accumulated 15 kJ/kg/day, when the proportion from at least moderate-intensity activity was 10% in both cases.
However, if this volume of 30 kJ/kg/day included 30% from at least moderate-intensity activity, then they were only about a quarter as likely to die.
The difference between this scenario and the reference of 15 kJ/kg/day and 10% is equivalent to an hour’s stroll plus 35 minutes at a brisker pace.
The results show that doing more activity of any intensity is beneficial, but that expending those calories in more intense activity is better still.
By gradually building up the intensity of physical activity people do each day they can improve their future health.
One author of the study is Dr. Tessa Strain of the MRC Epidemiology Unit.
The study is published in Nature Medicine.
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