Overview
- The BMJ Medicine analysis found lower mortality with greater variety of activities independent of total exercise volume, with overall benefits leveling off near about 20 MET-hours per week.
- Activity-specific associations included lower risk among those doing the most walking (17%), racquet sports (15%), rowing or calisthenics (14%), weight training or running (13%), and stair climbing (10%), with cycling at 4% and swimming not showing a measurable benefit.
- A separate Lancet meta-analysis using device-measured data from more than 150,000 adults estimated that adding about five minutes a day of moderate-to-vigorous activity could prevent roughly 6% of deaths among the least active and up to 10% when applied population-wide.
- Cutting daily sedentary time by about 30 minutes was linked to approximately 3% of deaths potentially averted among the least active and about 7% across the overall population.
- An eClinicalMedicine study reported that small concurrent gains in sleep, physical activity, and diet quality were associated with modeled lifespan and healthspan increases—about one extra year with minimal changes and up to roughly 9.35 additional years with optimal combinations—while all authors stressed these observational findings do not prove causation.