Daily walking can prevent up to 10% of premature deaths, study finds
You don't have to be an athlete or play sports to experience the benefits of exercise — fitting brisk walking into your routine could be enough, suggests an analysis by UK researchers.
The study found that if everyone did just 11 minutes of physical activity a day (which equates to about 75 minutes a week), one in 10 premature deaths could be prevented.
Most people fail to get the recommended minimum of 150 minutes of exercise per week.
But according to researchers at the University of Cambridge, getting some exercise is better than doing nothing.
The research team analyzed hundreds of previous studies on the benefits of physical activity and concluded that doing half the recommended amount could prevent one in 20 cases of cardiovascular disease and approximately one in 30 cases of cancer.
That equates to 75 minutes a week—or 11 minutes a day—cycling, brisk walking, hiking, dancing, or playing tennis.
"You should feel like you're moving, your heart will beat faster, but you won't necessarily run out of breath," says Soren Brage, who led the research.
Doing that amount of exercise is enough to reduce the risk of developing heart disease and stroke by 17% and cancer by 7%, the results suggest.
Regular exercise lowers body fat and blood pressure while improving long-term fitness, sleep and heart health.
Exercise benefits were even greater for some specific cancers, such as head and neck, gastric, leukemia, and blood cancers, but less for lung, liver, endometrial, colon, and breast cancers.
Not everyone finds it easy to reach the NHS recommended exercise target – two in three people say they get less than 150 minutes (2.5 hours) of moderate exercise a week; and less than one in 10 can do more than 300 minutes (five hours).
“If you're one of those people who finds the idea of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week a little daunting, then our finding should be good news,” says Brage.
"If you find 75 minutes a week is manageable, try gradually building up to the full recommended amount."
One suggestion is to cycle to work instead of using the car.
The analysis, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, was based on previously published research on the benefits of exercise from approximately 100 large studies and nearly 200 peer-reviewed articles to provide an overview of the evidence.
The researchers calculated that if all study participants had exercised at least 150 minutes a week—the total recommended amount—about one in six premature deaths would have been prevented.
According to scientists, it is enough to replace a few habits.
For example, they advise trying to walk or cycle to work or the supermarket instead of using the car, or being active by playing with children or grandchildren.
Fitting pleasurable activities into your weekly routine is the best way to increase the amount of physical activity you do, they say.
The NHS recommends that adults also engage in muscle-strengthening activities twice a week.
Whether it's yoga, pilates, weight training, intense gardening, or carrying heavy shopping bags—all of these count.
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