New findings published today in the journal Circulation looked at more than 100,000 people over 30 years and found that adults who are doing two to four times the nowadays recommended amount of moderate or vigorous physical activity per week have a much lower risk of dying.

People who did two to four times the recommended amount of vigorous physical activity each week saw a reduction of 21 to 23% and who were engaged in moderate physical activity each week saw a reduction of 26 to 31%.

It is well known that people who work out regularly have a lower chance of getting heart disease and dying soon.

In 2018, the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans from the US Department of Health and Human Services said that adults should do at least 150–300 minutes per week of moderate physical activity, 75–150 minutes per week of vigorous physical activity, or an equivalent mix of both.

Currently, the American Heart Association recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise, or a mix of the two, every week. These guidelines are based on the HHS Physical Activity Guidelines.

“The potential impact of physical activity on health is great, yet it remains unclear whether engaging in high levels of prolonged, vigorous or moderate intensity physical activity above the recommended levels provides any additional benefits or harmful effects on cardiovascular health,” says Dong Hoon Lee, Sc.D., M.S., a research associate at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, adding “Our study leveraged repeated measures of self-reported physical activity over decades to examine the association between long-term physical activity during middle and late adulthood and mortality.”

Researchers looked at death records and medical records for more than 100,000 adults from 1988 to 2018. The data came from two large prospective studies: the Nurses’ Health Study, which only looked at women, and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, which only looked at men.

More than 96 percent of the participants whose data were evaluated were white adults, with a female participation rate of 63 percent.

Over the course of the 30-year follow-up period, they were 66 years old on average and had a body mass index (BMI) of 26 kg/m2.

Every two years, participants in the Nurses’ Health Study or the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study completed a validated questionnaire to self-report their level of leisure-time physical activity.

The publicly accessible surveys, which were revised and expanded every two years, asked about health information, physician-diagnosed ailments, family medical histories, and personal habits such as cigarette and alcohol intake and frequency of exercise.

The amount of time spent on various physical activities per week on average for the previous 12 months was recorded as exercise data.

Walking, lighter-intensity exercise, weightlifting, and calisthenics were all considered to be moderate activity.

Jogging, running, swimming, biking, and other aerobic exercises were all considered vigorous activity.

The study found that adults who did twice as much moderate or vigorous physical activity each week as is currently recommended had the lowest long-term risk of dying.

The investigation also revealed:

• Those participants in the study who met the guidelines for vigorous physical activity had an observed 19 percent lower risk of death from all causes, with a 31 percent lower risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease (CVD) and a 15 percent lower risk of mortality from other causes.
• Moderate physical activity was associated with a 22-25 percent reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease-related mortality and a 19-20 percent reduction in the risk of non-CVD-related mortality, resulting in a 20-21 percent reduction in the overall risk of death.
• Participants who engaged in two to four times the recommended level of long-term vigorous physical activity (150-300 min/week) had a 27-33 percent lower risk of CVD mortality and a 19 percent lower risk of non-CVD mortality, resulting in a 21-23 percent lower risk of death from all causes.
• Participants who completed two to four times the recommended amount of moderate physical activity (300-600 minutes per week) had a 28-38 percent lower risk of CVD mortality and a 25-27 percent lower risk of non-CVD mortality, for a 26-31 percent lower risk of death from all causes.

Furthermore, among the adults who reported engaging in more than four times the advised minimum activity levels, no adverse cardiovascular health impacts were discovered.

An increase in the risk of unfavorable cardiovascular events, such as myocardial fibrosis, coronary artery calcification, atrial fibrillation, and sudden cardiac death, has been linked to long-term, high-intensity endurance activity, such as marathons, triathlons, and long-distance bicycle races.

“This finding may reduce the concerns around the potential harmful effect of engaging in high levels of physical activity observed in several previous studies,” adds Lee.

Although long-term high intensity (≥300 minutes/week) or moderate intensity physical activity (≥600 minutes/week) at levels more than four times the recommended weekly minimum did not reduce the risk of death, it was found to have no effect on mortality risk.

“Our study provides evidence to guide individuals to choose the right amount and intensity of physical activity over their lifetime to maintain their overall health,” says Lee. “Our findings support the current national physical activity guidelines and further suggest that the maximum benefits may be achieved by performing medium to high levels of either moderate or vigorous activity or a combination.”

He added that people who consistently engage in between 75 and 150 minutes of vigorous activity, 150 and 300 minutes of moderate activity, or an equivalent combination of both, per week, may experience greater benefits in mortality reduction than those who engage in less than 75 minutes of vigorous activity or less than 150 minutes of moderate activity.

“We have also seen that getting more than 300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity or more than 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical exercise each week may reduce a person’s risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease even further,” remarks Donna K. Arnett, dean and professor in the department of epidemiology at the University of Kentucky College of Public Health in Lexington, Kentucky, remarks, “so it makes sense that getting those extra minutes of exercise may also decrease mortality.”

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