A new study has revealed that having a power walk daily could increase the number of years one can live. The study of almost 5000 seniors established that with increased physical activity, deaths fell.
Having a 10-minute power walk can make you live longer
According to the study, daily, 10, 20, or 30 minutes of extra exercise reduced yearly mortality rates by 7%, 13%, and 17%. The study monitored US residents aged 40 to 85 years that wore accelerometers for a week.
The authors of the study indicated, “The potential public health benefit of changing daily physical activity by a manageable amount is not yet known. In this study, we used accelerometer measurements to examine the association of physical activity and mortality in a population-based sample of U.S. adults. These findings support implementing evidence-based strategies to improve physical activity for adults and potentially reduce deaths.”
According to the study, incorporating 10 minutes of moderate physical activity into one’s daily routine resulted in approximately 111,174 fatalities that could have been avoided per year. In addition, the higher the level of physical exercise, the fewer the deaths. For 20 and 30 minutes, the number increased twofold and threefold to 209,459 and 367,037, respectively. Women and men of various ethnic origins produced similar results.
Participants were followed for around a decade, during which there were 1,165 deaths. PAF (population attributable fraction) was a statistical technique utilized by the researchers. It calculated the percentage of deaths that could have been avoided each year if moderate-to-vigorous regular exercise had been increased.
Healthy adults need 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous activity
Doctors recommend around 150 minutes of exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity per week for healthy adults.
According to the authors, previous research suggests that boosting population physical activity levels could avert a significant number of fatalities each year. On the other hand, early estimates depended on random samples, self-reported regular exercise data, and predicted rather high increases in inactive levels, such as more than 30 minutes each day.
