The risk of dying prematurely can be reduced by 23% with just 11 minutes of moderate exercise per day, according to a recent study of more than 30 million adults in the United Kingdom. One in ten deaths could be avoided worldwide if everyone reached this target daily.
Recently published work in the British Journal of Sports Medicine looked at the exercise habits and disease and mortality rates of over 30 million people for an average of 10 years and found a correlation between the two.
This new study found that even just 75 minutes of physical activity per week, or 11 minutes per day, can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by 17 percent and that the same amount of time spent physically active can also reduce the risk of cancer by 7 percent. Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, killing 17.9 million people each year.
An extra 1,000 steps a day, which takes about 10 minutes, is usually a good start for many people, said study co-author Soren Brage of the epidemiology group at the University of Cambridge Clinical School of Medicine in the United Kingdom. This can be accomplished by taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking to the local store instead of driving, and walking briskly to play outdoors.
Moreover, vigorous exercises, such as running or a fast bike ride, significantly impact health, decreasing the risk of premature death by 31 percent.
