Most of the mortality benefit comes with the first 150 minutes a week, with no sign of harm well beyond it
Is more exercise always better for longevity?
The finding
Against no activity, mortality hazard ratios were 0.80 below the minimum, 0.69 at one to two times the minimum, 0.63 at two to three times, 0.61 at three to five times and 0.69 at ten times or more (Arem).
- Authors
- Arem H, Moore SC, Patel A, et al.; Lee DH, Rezende LFM, Joh HK, et al.
- Published
- JAMA Internal Medicine 175(6):959–967; Circulation 146(7):523–534 · 2015; 2022
- Evidence
- Read in the primary source; numbers checked.
- Source
- doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.0533
How it was studied
Arem: six pooled NCI cohorts, 661,137 people, 116,686 deaths, median follow-up 14.2 years. Lee: Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study, 116,221 people over 30 years, activity re-measured up to 15 times.
The numbers
Lee: meeting the moderate guideline (150–299 min a week) went with 19–25% lower mortality, and 300–599 minutes with a further 3–13%. The near-maximal association came at 300–600 minutes of moderate or 150–300 minutes of vigorous activity a week.
What it does not show
Self-reported activity and observational data.
What Longstanding does with it
This is why the zone 2 test is a share of a guideline and not a percentile: the useful question is whether you reach the minimum, not where you rank.
Tests this bears on
Related
- WHO 2020: 150–300 minutes of moderate or 75–150 minutes of vigorous activity a weekBull FC · 2020
- Measured by accelerometer, activity at any intensity is linked to lower mortalityEkelund U · 2019
- Mortality risk keeps falling up to about 6,000–8,000 steps a day at 60+, and 8,000–10,000 under 60Paluch AE · 2022