A new study published in the European Heart Journal has shown that just a small burst of intense exercise every day may significantly lower your risk of eight chronic diseases and death.
The prospective cohort study included nearly 100,000 participants from the UK Biobank. The participants wore accelerometers on their wrists for one week at the start of the study. These accelerometers measured their levels of physical activity each day, including rest, light or moderate activity, and vigorous activity. After the initial measurements, participants were followed-up with for an average of seven years. During that time, they were monitored for death and the development of eight major conditions, including major adverse cardiovascular events, atrial fibrillation, type 2 diabetes, immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, liver disease, chronic respiratory diseases, chronic kidney disease, and dementia. Vigorous activity has been previously associated with a lower risk of several chronic diseases, and this study sought to determine how the proportion of vigorous activity relative to overall physical activity impacts chronic disease risk.
The results showed that a higher percentage of vigorous physical activity throughout the day, regardless of total activity volume, was associated with a lower risk of all eight chronic diseases as well as a lower risk of all-cause mortality. Those with the highest proportions of vigorous activity had a 63% lower risk of dementia, a 60% lower risk of type 2 diabetes, and a 46% lower risk of death due to any cause compared to those with the lowest proportions of vigorous activity.
The authors of the study noted that vigorous activity may trigger certain responses in the body that are not triggered by less-intense forms of exercise. In particular, vigorous activity may make the heart pump blood more efficiently, make the blood vessels more elastic, and improve the overall ability of the body to use oxygen. Vigorous activity may also lower inflammation, which explains its association with lower risk of several chronic conditions. Even a few minutes of vigorous activity every day led to meaningful health benefits in this study.
Sources: European Heart Journal, Science Daily
