Just a few minutes of vigorous physical activity each day can significantly reduce your chances of developing several major diseases, including arthritis, heart disease and dementia, according to research published today (March 30). european heart journal.
To explore this link, researchers analyzed data from about 96,000 people. They compared overall physical activity levels with how active they were, and tracked participants’ risk of developing eight major diseases over time.
Even brief moments of higher intensity effort, such as running to catch a bus, were associated with lower risk of both illness and death. This protective effect was particularly strong against inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, serious cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and stroke, and dementia.
Tracking activity and health outcomes in large-scale studies
The study was led by an international team including Professor Mingxue Shen from Xiangya School of Public Health, Central South University, Hunan Province, China. “We know that physical activity reduces the risk of chronic disease and premature death, and there is growing evidence that vigorous activity has greater health benefits per minute than moderate activity,” he said. “However, questions remain about the importance of vigorous activity compared to total physical activity. For example, if two people perform the same total amount of activity, will the person who exercises more vigorously reap more health benefits? Also, should those with limited time focus on harder exercise rather than longer exercise?”
All participants in the UK Biobank study wore wrist-worn accelerometers for one week. These devices captured detailed movement patterns, such as short bursts of intense activity that people may not remember or report. The researchers used this data to calculate both the total amount of activity and the percentage of intensity that caused shortness of breath.
The team then compared these measurements to the participants’ chances of dying or developing eight serious diseases (serious cardiovascular disease, arrhythmia, type 2 diabetes, immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, liver disease, chronic respiratory disease, chronic kidney disease, and dementia) over the next seven years.
Higher intensity activities show stronger benefits
The results showed that people who spent most of their time doing vigorous exercise had a much lower risk in all conditions examined. Compared to those who were least active, those with the highest levels had a 63% lower risk of dementia, a 60% lower risk of type 2 diabetes, and a 46% lower risk of death. These benefits were observed even when the total time spent in vigorous activity was relatively short.
Researchers also found that intensity plays a larger role in certain diseases. For inflammatory conditions such as arthritis and psoriasis, intensity appears to be a key factor in reducing risk. In contrast, for diseases such as diabetes or chronic liver disease, both how long you’ve been active and how intensely you’ve exercised are important.
Why intense exercise has unique benefits
Professor Shen said: “Intense physical activity seems to trigger certain reactions in the body that cannot be fully replicated by low-intensity activity. During intense physical activity that leaves you feeling short of breath, the body reacts strongly. The heart pumps more efficiently, the blood vessels become more flexible, and the body’s ability to use oxygen increases.”
“Strength activity also appears to reduce inflammation, which may help explain why we’ve seen strong associations with inflammatory conditions such as psoriasis and arthritis. Vigorous activity may also stimulate chemicals in the brain that help keep brain cells healthy, which may help explain a lower risk of dementia.”
Small changes in daily life make a difference
“Our findings suggest that increasing some physical activity can have significant health benefits. You don’t have to go to the gym to do this. Adding short, breath-taking activities to your daily life, such as walking faster up the stairs, briskly walking between errands, or playing briskly with your kids, can make a big difference. Even just 15 to 20 minutes of this kind of effort per week, or just a few minutes a day, led to meaningful health benefits.”
“Current guidelines generally focus on how much time you spend being active per week. Our findings suggest that the composition of that activity is important and varies in importance depending on the disease you are trying to prevent. This could open the door to more personalized physical activity recommendations based on an individual’s specific health risks.”
“Strength exercise may not be safe for everyone, especially older adults and people with certain medical conditions. For them, increased movement can still be beneficial, and exercise should be tailored to the individual.”
