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Small Amounts of Exercise, Big Health Gains
We all know that regular physical activity is good for our health, but how many of us really have the time to make it happen? Fortunately, some new research has given hope that we may be able to achieve significant health benefits with less physical activity than we previously thought.
Loss of Muscle Mass Begins Early
By the time an adult reaches their thirties, they will start to lose some of their muscle mass. Adults tend to lose between 3% to 8% of their muscle mass per decade after they reach thirty. This rate of muscle loss increases rapidly after a person reaches sixty. The rapid decline of muscle mass leads to increased frailty, fall risk, insulin resistance and decreased bone health. These are reasons why physical activity increases in importance as a person ages. Find more information on the impact of aging on muscle in resistance training: the true fount of youth.
How Often Should We Exercise? Frequency Matters.
Most health organizations advocate for splitting up physical activity over four to five days per week. The World Health Organization recommends adults accumulate 150 to 300 minutes of moderate intensity activity each week. If a person were to split this amount of physical activity over five days each week, it would translate to approximately 30 minutes of physical activity each day. Many adults find it difficult to fit this amount of time into their busy lives while working, raising children, caring for elderly parents and attending to other responsibilities.
Some Great News About Weekend Warriors.
A large-scale study conducted by the UK Biobank studied over 90,000 participants wearing wearable devices to track their physical activity. Participants were tracked for eight years. Researchers categorized participants as either inactive, weekend warriors (those who engaged in physical activity primarily one to two times per week), and regular physically active individuals. Here are the findings:
- Weekend warriors experienced a 32% decrease in overall mortality compared to inactive participants.
- Regularly active individuals experienced a 26% decrease in mortality compared to inactive participants.
- Weekend warriors also demonstrated a slight improvement in the number of deaths due to heart disease and cancer compared to inactive participants.
These findings demonstrate that focusing your physical activity into one or two days per week is still possible to produce significant health benefits provided that fits your schedule.
Less May Be More Than Enough.
Another surprising finding from the same data set was that individuals engaging in only 115 minutes per week of physical activity received almost the same health benefits as individuals achieving the 150 minute recommendation.
Looking At Everyday Activity.
A related study focused on individuals who did not engage in structured workouts such as going to the gym or jogging. Instead, this study assessed brief, high-intensity bursts of physical activity during normal activities of daily living referred to as vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity (VILPA). Examples of VILPA include:
- Climbing stairs quickly
- Carrying heavy bags of groceries
- Walking uphill quickly
- Chasing children or pets
Participants averaged only three bursts of activity per day lasting one to two minutes. Totaling approximately 42 minutes per week.
When comparing individuals engaging in VILPA to sedentary individuals:
- There was a 38% decrease in the risk of dying from any cause.
- There was a 48% decrease in the risk of dying from heart disease.
This means as few as six minutes of vigorous movement per day can lead to a significant improvement in health outcomes.
Why Does This Happen? The Dose-Response Curve.
Physical activity benefits follow a dose-response curve. The greatest health benefits are achieved from the first bit of physical activity. When transitioning from being sedentary to slightly active, there is the greatest reduction in disease and mortality risk. However, as an individual continues to increase the amount of physical activity, the benefits continue to decrease.
Exercise "Snacks": A Realistic Option.
If your schedule does not allow for large blocks of time to dedicate to physical activity, consider adding "exercise snacks," or short periods of movement to your daily routine.
- Choose the stairs instead of the elevator.
- Perform a set of push-ups or squats during your work breaks.
- Park further away from entrances to increase walking.
Engaging in consistent "exercise snacks" will contribute to your long term health. Learn more about the benefits of "exercise snacks" here.
Should You Continue To Strive for More?
If you have the time and energy, structured exercise will result in additional health benefits. Research indicates that people who engage in 300 to 600 minutes of physical activity per week experience greater improvements in health and longevity.
However, if your schedule is busy, the primary takeaway is: do something is better than doing nothing.
Key Takeaways.
- You do not have to exercise every day to receive health benefits.
- Weekend warriors will still experience significant reductions in mortality risk.
- Even 42 minutes of vigorous activity per week can greatly improve your health.
- The most significant benefits come from increasing your movement in whatever way you can.
In other words: it is not all or nothing.