The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommends that Americans complete a minimum of 2 hours and 30 minutes to 5 hours per week of moderate physical activity, 1 hour and 15 minutes to 2 hours and 30 minutes per week of vigorous physical activity or an equal combination of both, depending on your Physical Activity Guidelines 2018.
Over the course of seven days, that translates to about 21 to 42 minutes of daily moderate exercise and just over 10 to 21 minutes of daily vigorous exercise.
However, a new to study by researchers at Harvard and several international universities found that exercising longer each week provided more health benefits, particularly “maximum mortality reduction benefit.”
Study shows this is the optimal duration of exercise
The experts who conducted the study, published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation, determined that lower mortality was associated with two to four times more exercise than recommended by HHS.
According to their research, funded by the National Institutes of Health, the optimal duration of exercise per week is:
- minimum of 5 to 10 hours of moderate physical activity (42 minutes to one hour and 25 minutes daily)
- minimum 2 hours and 30 minutes to 5 hours of vigorous physical activity (21-42 minutes daily)
- an equivalent combination of the two
The study followed more than 100,000 American adults from 1988 to 2018 using questionnaires. Participants were asked about age, race, weight, height, family medical history, personal medical history, sleep duration, smoking history, and more.
The results showed that people who completed 300 to 600 minutes, or 5 to 10 hours, of moderate physical activity per week had between 26% and 31% less mortality from all causes.
Specifically, those people had 28% to 38% lower cardiovascular mortality and 25% to 27% lower noncardiovascular mortality compared to people who reported doing little or no weekly physical activity.
People who completed 150 to 300 minutes of vigorous physical activity each week saw similar benefits: 21% to 23% lower all-cause mortality, 27% to 33% lower cardiovascular mortality, and 19% lower noncardiovascular mortality.
HHS-recommended exercises:
Based on HHS guidelines, here are some simple ways to fit the physical activity you need into your lifestyle.
moderate physical activities
- walk briskly
- play doubles tennis
- Rake the yard
vigorous physical activities
- Jogging
- Run
- Shoveling snow
- Carry heavy groceries
- Attend a strenuous fitness class
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