Scientists from Harvard found that doubling to quadrupling the minimum amount of weekly physical activity recommended for U.S. adults may substantially lower the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and other causes.
They found people who followed the minimum guidelines for moderate or vigorous long-term, leisure physical activity lowered their risk of dying from any cause by as much as 21%.
But adults who exercised two to four times the minimum might lower their mortality risk by as much as 31%.
The research is published in Circulation and was conducted by Dong Hoon Lee et al.
The American Heart Association recommends adults get at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, 75 minutes per week of vigorous aerobic exercise, or a combination of both.
That advice is based on federal guidelines for physical activity.
In the study, researchers analyzed 30 years of medical records and mortality data for over 100,000 adults. Participants were an average of 66 years old.
In the study, moderate physical activity was defined as walking, lower-intensity exercise, weightlifting, and calisthenics. Vigorous activities included jogging, running, swimming, bicycling, and other aerobic exercises.
The team found going above and beyond the recommended minimums reaped greater longevity rewards, especially for moderate physical activity.
Extra moderate-intensity exercise – 300 to 600 minutes per week – was associated with a 26%-31% lower risk of death from any cause compared with almost no long-term moderate-intensity exercise.
By comparison, people who hit just the minimum goals for moderate physical activity had a lower risk of 20%-21%.
For vigorous physical activity, getting 150 to 300 minutes a week was linked to a 21%-23% lower risk of death from any cause compared to getting none.
That compared to a 19% lower risk for people who just met the minimum exercise target.
People who reported meeting the recommendation for moderate physical activity had a 22%-25% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, while those who exercised two to four times the recommendation had a 28%-38% lower risk.
Those reporting the recommended amount of vigorous physical activity were 31% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease, while those who doubled to quadrupled the recommended target had a 27%-33% lower risk.
The team also found engaging in more than 300 weekly minutes of vigorous or 600 weekly minutes of moderate physical activity did not provide any further reduction in death risk.
If you care about exercise, please read studies about exercise that can help you sleep better, and weekly muscle strength exercise may help reduce early death risk.
For more information about wellness, please see recent studies about no time to exercise? What about three seconds a day? and results showing this fruit could hold the key to exercise endurance.
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