A huge study of 500,000 US adults aged 18-85 – followed up for a median of 10 years – has reported a balanced regimen of moderate and vigorous activity, along with 2 muscle-strengthening sessions a week, can reduce the risk of various forms of mortality.
The study also found even greater reductions in mortality risk by exceeding current physical activity guidelines – and suggests ‘clinicians should ease their physically inactive patients into a healthy mix of exercises’.
The study by a team on international scientists and reported in Jama Internal Medicine examined the ideal combination of exercise types for living longer by assessing various combinations of moderate aerobic physical activity (MPA), vigorous aerobic physical activity (VPA) and muscle-strengthening activity (MSA).
It found a balanced amount of MPA, VPA and MSA were most closely associated with a lower risk of dying, although the mix of activities depended on the type of mortality.
The optimal combination for lowering the risk of:
- All-cause mortality – was greater than 0-75 minutes each week of MPA together with over 150 minutes of VPA, plus 2 or more MSA sessions each week;
- cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer mortality — was more than 150-225 minutes of MPA, more than 0-75 minutes of VPA, plus 2 or more MSA sessions.
The 2020 World Health Organisation exercise recommendations per week are 150-300 minutes of MPA, 75-150 minutes of VPA, or some relatively equivalent combination of them, plus MSA sessions on 2 days.
The study also found that MPA exercise levels greater than the current recommendations may reduce the risk of mortality even further. With more than 300 minutes of MPA, greater than 0-75 minutes of VPA, and 2 or more MSA sessions per week, the researchers observed a 50% lower mortality rate for all- cause and cancer mortality, along with a roughly three-fold lower mortality rate for CVD mortality.
The study also found twice the amount of VPA was associated with a reduction in all-cause mortality risk, while twice the amount of MPA reduced the risk of cardiovascular and cancer mortality.
Study co-author Dr Ruben Lopez-Bueno from Spain’s University of Zaragoza told medicalndewstoday. com the key message of these findings ‘is that each type of physical activity matters in order to optimise mortality risk reductions.’
And he noted: ‘No isolated type of physical activity or even the addition of 2 types of physical activity, even at higher levels, seems superior in terms of mortality risk reduction to the other 3 types combined.’
