- Regular exercise is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and premature death. However, there was limited evidence looking at the impact of exercise intensity on these risks.
- A new analysis of over 100,000 participants, reviewed over a 30-year follow-up period, has shown that vigorous or moderate exercise is linked to the lowest risk of death.
- Experts say taking small steps to move more can help one improve their health, and it’s important for individuals to consider their own unique circumstances and physical ability.
It is well known that being physically active can help you lead a healthier and happier life. People who exercise regularly have a lower risk of developing several long-term (chronic) conditions, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers. Studies showTrusted Source that physical activity also boosts self-esteem and mood, and can also help people to have better quality sleep. However, while getting enough exercise is important, the intensity of the exercise should also be considered.
A recent analysisTrusted Source published in Circulationinvestigated the link between long-term physical activity intensity and the risk of death.
The study found that adults who perform two to four times the currently recommended amount of moderate or vigorous physical activity per week had a significantly reduced risk of death.
The 2018 physical activity guidelinesTrusted Sourcerecommend that adults engage in at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate physical activity per week, and 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week. However, a growing number of people are performing higher levels of more vigorous exercise to maintain health and improve fitness. For example, high intensity interval training (HIIT) has become increasingly popular.
However, there have concerns about the potentially harmful effects on the cardiovascular health of an excessive amount of vigorous physical activity. Although, there is limited and sometimes conflicting evidenceTrusted Source to support this.
This new research, conducted by Lee et al., involved analyzing data from 2 large cohorts of participants: the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, collected from 1988-2018.
In these cohorts, participants completed questionnaires about their physical activity up to 15 times during the follow-up period. They were asked to report the average hours they spent on various activities, including walking, jogging, running, swimming, bicycling, aerobic exercise, playing squash/racketball or tennis, while also logging low intensity exercise and weightlifting.
Study author Dr. Dong Hoon Lee explained to Medical News Today the implications of this research for people who want to increase their own activity levels.
“Our study showed that many people can get significant health benefits by performing the recommended physical activity (150 minutes per week of moderate activity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous activity) so it is important to stay active. For those who are looking for the optimal health benefits from exercise, they can aim for higher levels of activity (2+ times the
The authors did a nice job conducting sensitivity analyses that addressed many potential limitations. However, the type of physical activity—moderate or vigorous—was based on self-reported categories of activities,” said Krukowski. “For example, cycling was assumed to always be vigorous, but cycling could also be of moderate intensity.” addition, for people who only do moderate but never vigorous physical activity, there appears to be an added benefit to adding 25% of the time doing a vigorous physical activity rather than only doing moderate physical activity.
“If you are a walker who never breaks a sweat, you might try adding some speed intervals or walking briskly up hills,” Prof. Sarkisian said.
However, on reviewing the study participants recruited for the study, Prof. Sarkisian noted that the studies included mostly non-Latino white people, a major limitation.
“It is very important to keep in mind that because this was not a clinical trial, we cannot be sure that it was the exercise itself that caused longer life rather than other factors associated with exercise. People who exercise are likely to be healthier in other ways that were not measured in this study, so the large effect sizes should be interpreted with caution.”
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