How much should you exercise each week for long-term health?

Good news runners! A short run can improve your longevity.

It’s well known that exercise is good for you, but how much of it do you need per week to be really healthy (or extend your lifespan)? A new study published in Circulation (the journal of the American Heart Association) highlights that adults need a minimum of 150 minutes of vigorous physical activity each week to lower their risk of premature death–that’s only 21 and a half minutes a day.

Vigorous physical activity was defined as running, walking, bicycling or swimming.

The study looked at 116,221 adults, and found that people who went beyond the minimum guidelines could lower their risk of premature death even more. The participants self-reported their physical activity via a questionnaire over a period of 30 years.

Participants who exercised two to four times the physical activity recommendations (300 to 599 minutes per week, or 42 to 85 minutes per day) saw the most benefit. According to the study, they had 26 to 31 per cent lower death rate overall, 28 to 38 per cent lower incidence of death from cardiovascular events, and 25 to 27 per cent lower risk of death from non-cardivascular causes, as compared to a control group that did no vigorous physical activity.

It may not come as much of a surprise to lifelong runners that their hobby improves their longevity, but it’s interesting to see this borne out in a long-term study with thousands of participants.

posted Friday August 19th
by Marley Dickinson