While most of us know exercise is good for you, a new study published this week in JAMA Internal Medicine shows just how little can make a huge difference.
In fact, just 10 minutes of exercise a day could save 111,000 people a year in the U.S.
The study from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) used accelerometers on more than four thousand test subjects to determine their activity level — and was said to be the first of its kind because of it.
In similar studies — which also showed the life-saving benefits of exercise — test subjects were asked to self-report how much they moved around, and often the studies used a benchmark of more than 30 minutes a day of exercise. While that’s basically a sitcom’s length of moving around, it’s unfortunately a bridge too far for many Americans.
However, the new study shows that you don’t have to be a gym rat to save yourself from a shortened life.
Granted, the study found the more exercise you get a day the better, but the researchers noted, “the addition of 10 minutes per day of MVPA [moderate-to-vigorous physical activity intensity] was associated with the prevention of 8% of total deaths per year among men, 5.9% among women, 4.8% among Mexican American individuals, 6.1% among non-Hispanic Black individuals, and 7.3% among non-Hispanic White individuals [annually].”