Study Lightweight physical exercises extend life

Study examines the impact of exercise

It is well known that exercise and physical activity are healthy for the human body. Researchers have now found that just a few hours of light physical training per week, such as dog walks or gardening, can reduce the risk of premature death in older men. This is also the case if the activity carried out is of short duration.

Researchers at University College London found in their study that regular short and light training greatly reduces the risk of early death in older men. The physicians published the results of their study in the journal "British Journal of Sports Medicine".

Must be sport long and exhausting?

To improve health and reduce the risk of death, training sessions must be exhausting and long, according to many national health authorities. However, the results of the study show that this is not true. British and U.S. physical activity guidelines also mention no benefits of light activity. When these guidelines were written, there was not enough evidence to make such a recommendation, study author Dr. Barbara Jefferis from University College London. These guidelines should be revised. The results of the current investigation suggest that all activities, no matter how short or intense, are beneficial to one's health, adds Dr. Jefferis added.

Data collection began in 1978

The research is based on data from the British Regional Heart Study, which began in 1978 with nearly 8,000 participants aged 40 to 59 from a few dozen cities across the UK. In 2012, the 3,137 surviving men underwent a physical examination and answered questions about their lifestyle and sleep patterns.

Study focused on 1,181 subjects

The current study focused on 1,181 participants who carried an accelerometer for seven days, a device to track the length and intensity of physical activity. The availability of body-worn activity monitors has allowed us to investigate whether the light activity is associated with longevity, Dr. Jefferis.

How did light activity affect life expectancy??

The men, who were 78 years old on average, were monitored for five years. During this time a total of 194 of them died. The results of the study showed that an additional 30-minute outdoor daylight activity per day was associated with a 17 percent reduction in the risk of dying. As expected, half an hour of moderate to strong activity reduced the risk even more (33 percent). What counted, however, was the total time spent training, not how the time was split, the experts explain.

Mowing the lawn can extend life

The men who performed short, sporadically moderately intense activities (lawn mowing, swimming, walking briskly) lived as long as men whose training time was divided into lengthy sessions. For both groups, the mortality rate was 40 percent lower compared to non-active, sedentary people.

What limitations did the study have??

The authors pointed out that the structure of the study (it was an observational study) does not allow to evaluate the results in terms of cause and effect. Compared with older men who train on a sporadic or regular basis and those who do not exercise, the volunteers who wear an accelerometer may have been in better health from the start. This could have slightly distorted the results.

Results probably also apply to women

It is also unclear whether the results for older women also apply, although Jefferis says there is little reason to believe that this is not the case. However, the doctors simply did not have the necessary data for women. (As)