A new study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine suggests that a person can reduce their death risk with much less exercise than one might think.
The study finds that just 22 minutes of daily moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) can reduce one’s risk of dying prematurely as a result of a sedentary lifestyle.
The beneficial effects of exercise are, of course, dose-dependent, so the more exercise, the greater a reduction in mortality risk, up to a point.
All the people in the study were at least 50 years old and reported to researchers their weight, height, sex, educational level, alcohol use, smoking, and any incidence of previous cancer, cardiovascular disease, or diabetes.
Of the participants, 5,943 individuals were sitting for less than 10.5 hours every day, while 6,042 individuals sat for 10.5 or more hours daily. The researchers aimed to assess the effect of sedentary time and physical activity on mortality risk, as derived from death registries.
For people exercising less than 22 minutes a day, sitting for more than 12 hours was associated with a 38% increased risk of death compared to sitting for 8 hours.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends 150–300 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise per week or at least 75 minutes of vigorous exercise, or a combination of both.
The dangers of being sedentary
When we’re sedentary, we use our muscles less, and it’s “use it or lose it”. If we’re not using our legs and our core muscles, they’re going to become weaker, and then we’re less likely to want to be active because it’s harder to walk a little further.
This also increases the risk of falling, at which point we may acquire injuries that make us even more reluctant to be physically active.
Physical activity is known to offer a range of benefits, such as mental health, cardiometabolic profiles, and cognitive functions.
The heart is a muscle, and the less we engage in activity, the weaker the heart muscle becomes, so physical activity becomes even more challenging because it becomes necessary to recondition the heart. Being sedentary has been associated with cardiometabolic disease.
There are good reasons to be active across the lifespan and even children need to build and strengthen muscles by exercising and that doing so sets them up for a lifetime of physical activity.
In addition, mental health, including a reduction in anxiety and depression, is associated with being active. Given the widely reported mental health crisis among young people, this is yet another important benefit.
Exercise also promotes better sleep by facilitating falling asleep more quickly and achieving deeper sleep. When we sleep better, we have fewer injuries. So, by sleeping more than eight hours, studies have shown that kids have 50% less injuries.
22 minutes a day, 154 minutes a week
This study’s 22 minutes of physical activity a day adds up to the minimum 150 minutes prescribed by the WHO. As to exceeding 22 minutes a day, there appears to be no upper limit at which it does not provide any health benefits. However, at the higher ends, about 60-120 min per day, the risk reduction appears to level off a bit, especially for those being highly sedentary.
People do not need to complete 22 minutes of activity all at once each day. “Exercise snacking” involves taking 10 minutes here and 15 minutes there and may be easier for some to integrate into their busy lives.
It is important to remember that doing any daily moderate to vigorous physical activity is better than doing none. Even if one cannot initially achieve the base target, just to do a little every day and increase daily MVPA to reach the target.
Adapted from an article by Robby Berman on October 29, 2023—Fact checked by
Ferdinand Lali, Ph.D.; https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/daily-20-25-mins-of-physical-activity-may-offset-death-risk-from-prolonged-sitting
