The benefits of exercise with regards to promoting cardiovascular health, lowering the risk of cancer, and living a generally healthy lifestyle have long been promoted by doctors and the media. But many questions surrounding this piece of advice that need to be answered remain. A key question is, how much time should people be exercising per day to receive the health benefits that are associated with exercise? A recent study from the University of Cambridge carried out a large review and analysis of previously conducted research surrounding this topic to try and reach a consensus that answers this question.
For this study, the researchers reviewed 196 published articles looking at data related to over 30 million individuals. The researchers viewed studies concerning large populations and excluded studies where the population was under 10,000 individuals. They did this to ensure that they did not introduce bias from a small population size. The researchers specifically analyzed the relationships between exercise and the risk of heart disease, cancer, and premature death.
A large study analysis looking at over 30 million individuals has found that 11 minutes of medium-intensity exercise per day can help lower the risk of heart disease and cancer.
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The large cohort analysis showed that 2 out of 3 individuals’ physical activity levels measured below 150 minutes per week, which is about 21 minutes per day. At this level, the researchers found that there were no real additional benefits found in regard to disease prevention or reducing the risk of early death. They determined that 75 minutes of medium-intensity exercise per week, or about 11 minutes per day, was a threshold that allowed people to achieve the same health benefits as those who spend more than 75 minutes a day exercising. With 75 minutes of exercise per week, the risk of heart disease and cancer were found to be reduced by 17% and 7%, respectively.
With busy schedules and many responsibilities to manage, it can be difficult for people to carve out a large chunk of time to devote time to exercise. With this study, the researchers have found that many recommendations commonly given (i.e. 30 minutes of exercise per day) overestimate the amount of time you need to be active. However, this new study introduces a number that is much more manageable to recommend to people.
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