How Much Exercise Should I Be Doing Daily?

This topic has been covered a hundred times. Industry experts are forever offering their advice on how much we should be moving every day, and usually, the answer is the same: 20 or 30 minutes of activity is the minimum goal to aim for, right?

Apparently not.

A new study has emerged from the Norwegian School of Sports Medicine, and according to those guys, all you need in order to see health benefits pop up is 11 minutes of moderate activity, daily.

Does this mean I only need to work out for 11 minutes?

Not exactly. What the study found was that as little as 11 minutes of activity per day helped to reduce health risks and lower mortality rates. It’s also worth pointing out here that this 11 minutes of activity was combined with low sedentary time. So, the suggestion is that if you’re working out for at least 11 minutes per day and avoiding staying still or seated for long periods of time (more than 8.5 hours per day) then it appears that your health risks would likely lower.

More exercise is still the healthier move

As Travel + Leisure reports, the study found that those who exercised for 35 minutes per day saw the most positive results with regard to health. These benefits lessened, and the risk of death increased as the subjects’ moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) dropped and sedentary time rose.

However, the interesting point is that positive health impacts were seen with as little as 11 minutes of moderate activity per day.

The study assessed 44 370 men and women over the period of between four and 14 and a half years. Over this time, 3,451 of these participants died. The mean age of these people was 65.8 years.

So, long story, short: more exercise is still best, but even introducing a little per day is going to do you a world of good.