Brief, energetic bursts of activity like racing up the stairs or lugging heavy shopping bags could slash the risk of dying by nearly 40 per cent for people who don't exercise regularly, new research suggests.
These vigorous moments don't need to be long - with activities lasting around 10 seconds enough to make a difference. Playing enthusiastically with kids, walking briskly up a steep hill, or carrying heavy loads all count.
The key finding is that these everyday activities can deliver major health benefits, particularly for those who struggle to find time for traditional exercise routines.
A study tracking 3,300 Americans found that those who managed just 1.1 minutes of vigorous activity daily were 38 per cent less likely to die from any cause over the next six years compared to those who did none. The participants wore activity monitors for a week to measure their normal movement patterns.
Everyday activities can deliver major health benefits
|GETTY
This American group was generally less fit than participants in an earlier UK study - they were more overweight and did much less physical activity overall.
Emmanuel Stamatakis from the University of Sydney, who led the research, noted that only about 15 per cent of adults exercise regularly, with most finding it difficult to fit structured workouts into their routines.
The fascinating thing is that less-fit people actually see bigger improvements from small amounts of activity.
Carlos Celis-Morales from the University of Glasgow described this as a "ceiling effect" - those with high fitness levels have less room for improvement, while inactive individuals with lower fitness can gain much more.
In fact, the less-fit Americans needed only 1.1 minutes of vigorous activity to achieve the same 38 per cent reduction in death risk that required 4.4 minutes in the fitter UK group.
Though their overall mortality risk remained higher due to their lower starting fitness, the relative improvement was remarkable.
"A steep reduction in cardiovascular risk was observed for daily duration up to about 14 vigorous-intensity or up to 35 to 50 moderate-intensity minutes,” the researchers stated in the study.
"For individuals who are unwilling or unable to initiate and adhere to a structured exercise programme, cardiovascular health clinicians and public health practitioners could promote incidental physical activity, particularly of moderate and vigorous intensities."
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Just one minute of exercise could reduce the risk of death over the next six years
|GETTY
"Our findings highlight potentially more feasible avenues for reducing cardiovascular risk through activities conducted during normal daily living."
While these findings are encouraging, this type of research can't definitively prove that the exercise causes the health improvements.
The team is now planning additional research to provide stronger evidence that these benefits truly come from increased incidental exercise.
Their ultimate goal is to find ways to help people boost their everyday activity levels without needing gym memberships.