In a study from Harvard, scientists found adults who perform two to four times the currently recommended amount of moderate or vigorous physical activity per week have a much lower risk of death.
They did an analysis of more than 100,000 participants over a 30-year follow-up period.
The reduction of death risk was 21-23% for people who engaged in two to four times the recommended amount of vigorous physical activity, and 26-31% for people who engaged in two to four times the recommended amount of moderate physical activity each week.
It is well documented that regular physical activity is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and premature death.
In the study, the team analyzed mortality data and medical records for more than 100,000 adults.
Participants had an average age of 66 years and an average body mass index (BMI) of 26 kg/m2 over the 30-year follow-up period.
Moderate 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 that adults who performed double the currently recommended range of either moderate or vigorous physical activity each week had the lowest long-term risk of mortality.
They also found people who met the guidelines for vigorous physical activity had an observed 31% lower risk of CVD mortality and 15% lower risk of non-CVD mortality, for an overall 19% lower risk of death from all causes.
People who met the guidelines for moderate physical activity had an observed 22-25% lower risk of CVD mortality and 19-20% lower risk of non-CVD mortality, for an overall 20-21% lower risk of death from all causes.
People who performed two to four times above the recommended amount of long-term vigorous physical activity (150-300 min/week) had an observed 27-33% lower risk of CVD mortality and 19% non-CVD mortality, for an overall 21-23% lower risk of death from all causes.
People who performed two to four times above the recommended amount of moderate physical activity (300-600 min/week) had an observed 28-38% lower risk of CVD mortality and 25-27% non-CVD mortality, for an overall 26-31% lower risk of mortality from all causes.
In addition, no harmful heart health effects were found among the adults who reported engaging in more than four times the recommended minimum activity levels.
These findings may reduce the concerns around the potentially harmful effect of engaging in high levels of physical activity observed in several previous studies.
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The study was conducted by Dong Hoon Lee et al and published in Circulation.
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