The Power of 10 More Minutes of Exercise
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends adults participate in "moderate-to-vigorous" exercise for at least 150 minutes per week. That's usually described as 30 minutes of exercise 5 days per week.
Not long ago, we reported on a study that suggested that those who exercised even more vigorously than those who exercised the same amount of time1 but at a moderate intensity were about 20% less likely to die of a cardiovascular-related disease compared to those who exercised more moderately.
This sort of thing makes great headlines, but the bad news is that many people hear a vastly oversimplified version of that message: Just exercise 30 minutes a day but even harder than you are already!
As is so often the case, further research has found that the question of exercise is far more nuanced than that.
The Research
In a research letter published in early 20222, researchers at the CDC analyzed National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data in a subset of more than 4800 participants between 40 and 85 years of age from 2003 to 2006.
That subset is particularly important because these participants wore accelerometers (devices that measure physical activity) for 7 consecutive days, allowing the researchers to accurately measure their actual amount of physical activity—as opposed to relying on the participants' personal recall, which is notoriously inaccurate.
With the information gathered from the participants' accelerometers, the authors could group the participants into 8 increasing levels of moderately vigorous activity: 0-19 minutes per day, 20-39, 40-59, and so forth up to a maximum of 140 or more minutes per day. The study included participants with clinically diagnosed frailty as well as those who required equipment to walk, which the authors assumed were unable to increase their level of activity.
The authors then analyzed the number of deaths in this subset of participants at the end of 2015, and extrapolated the activity levels and deaths to the population of the United States as a whole—NHANES is deliberately designed to be representative of the US population.
The Results
With the minutes of activity correlated with the number of deaths, the authors could then model the number of deaths that might occur at higher levels (more minutes) of moderately vigorous physical activity. First, they added just 10 minutes of physical activity, then 20, then 30 minutes per day.
They found that adding just 10 minutes of moderately vigorous physical activity per day would result in 6.9% fewer deaths per year—or more than 111,000 fewer deaths among all Americans per year. Adding 20 minutes per day reduced deaths by 13% (over 209,000 fewer Americans) and 30 minutes by 16.9% (over 272,000 deaths).
What’s the Take Home?
If you're not currently very active, it's easy to get overwhelmed when thinking about starting an exercise plan: "One hundred fifty minutes a week? Where am I going to find that kind of time?"
This study looked at people who engaged in moderately vigorous physical activity, which is defined as "physical activities ... that cause only light sweating or a slight to moderate increase in breathing or heart rate." This was measured by motion-sensitive devices (accelerometers) that allowed the researchers to determine when the participants had that "slight to moderate increase in breathing or heart rate," which could well have meant several short bursts of exercise per day.
The point here is that just 10 more minutes of that level of activity per day had a measurable impact on the participants' risk of death from all causes—even when they had mobility issues. You don't need to pay for spin classes 6 days a week to see the benefits of just a little more exercise, from walking your dog around the block to playing with your grandkids. Just 10 extra minutes of activity could make a healthy difference.
References:
- Harlan TS. Underscoring the importance of moderate exercise. Dr Gourmet. Accessed October 17. https://www.drgourmet.com/bites/2020/122320.shtml
- Saint-Maurice PF, Graubard BI, Troiano RP, et al. Estimated number of deaths prevented through increased physical activity among US adults. JAMA Intern Med. 2022;182(3):349-352. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2021.7755
Dr. Gourmet is the definitive health and nutrition web resource for both physicians and patients with evidence-based resources including special diets for coumadin users, patients with GERD/acid reflux, celiac disease, type 2 diabetes, low sodium diets (1500 mg/d), and lactose intolerance.
Timothy S. Harlan, MD, FACP, CCMS, is a practicing, board-certified Internist. He is currently an Associate Professor of Medicine at George Washington University and Director of the GW Culinary Medicine Program.
Health meets Food: the Culinary Medicine Curriculum, is an innovative program teaching medical students about diet and lifestyle that bridges the gap between the basic sciences, clinical medicine, the community, and culinary education. Medical students work side-by-side in the kitchen with culinary students to teach each other, and most importantly, teach the community and patients how to return to their kitchens and transform their health.
He served as Associate Dean for Clinical Services at Tulane University School of Medicine and is the founder and Senior Advisor of the Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine, the first-of-its-kind teaching kitchen operated by a medical school.
Dr Harlan attended medical school at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, and pursued his residency at Emory University School of Medicine Affiliated Hospitals in Atlanta, GA.