It turns out that the saying “less is more” applies to exercise, too. You don’t need to train for a marathon or spend hours in the gym each week to improve your health and live longer. According to new research, adding as little as five minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day could prevent a surprising number of premature deaths at the population level.
The study, published in The Lancet, analyzed data from over 100,000 adult participants across Norway, Sweden, the U.K., and the U.S. Researchers tracked movement and sedentary behavior over time and looked at how small changes may impact mortality.
They found that five minutes of activity among the most sedentary 20 percent of people could prevent about six percent of all deaths. What’s more? Adding five minutes of daily activity could prevent 10 percent of all deaths.
Related: Daily ‘Exercise Snacks’ Might Be All You Need to Boost VO2 Max, Study Finds
Sitting less also helps. Findings support that cutting 30 minutes of daily sedentary time could prevent 3 to 7 percent of deaths. Additionally, increases in activity and bigger reductions in sitting led to even greater decreases in mortality risk.
“If all in the population groups decreased their sitting by 30 minutes, 3,000 and 7,000 deaths might be prevented in a population with 100,000 deaths—this is close to the annual death rate in Sweden,” said Ulf Ekelund, PhD, professor at the Oslo Research Centre for Physical Activity and Population Health in the Department of Sports Medicine at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences in Norway, and principal investigator of this study, per Medical News Today.
What’s encouraging is that this study didn’t focus on intense workouts or serious lifestyle changes in the fitness department. Just gradual, achievable increases in daily movement. The types of activity examined included everyday actions like brisk walking, climbing stairs, and cycling.
“Getting people to move their bodies more in hopes it will make their daily activities easier and to help them live a longer and happier life is exactly what I preach every day,” Ekelund added. “Movement is medicine; even just five minutes can really improve someone’s physical and mental state.”
For anyone feeling overwhelmed by the idea of starting a fitness routine, this study’s conclusion is promising: just moving a little more each day makes a difference.
