By Dayne Hudson
Let's be honest.
Most people want to put in the LEAST amount of work for the maximal amount of gain.
So what's the minimum amount of exercise required for a longer life?
Well a recent study examined just this (1).
It assessed the possible health benefits of a range of volumes of physical activity in a selected group of Taiwanese people.
416,175 individuals (199,265 men and 216,910 women) participated and were placed into one of five categories of exercise volumes: inactive, or low, medium, high, or very high activity.
Compared with individuals in the inactive group those in the low-volume activity group, who exercised for an average of 92 min per week, or 15 min a day, had a whopping 14% reduced risk of all-cause mortality and a 3 year longer life expectancy!
Just 15 minutes a day, low intensity!?
Now imagine how much my favourite type of training, High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), could benefit you!
Futhermore, every additional 15 min of daily exercise beyond the minimum amount of 15 minutes a day, futher reduced all-cause mortality by 4% and all-cancer mortality by 1%.
And the good news is these benefits were applicable to all age groups and both sexes, and to those with cardiovascular disease risks.
And for those who were inactive, they had a 17% increased risk of mortality compared with individuals in the low-volume group.
So basically, 15 minutes a day isn't too bad, even for those at risk of cardiovascular disease.
Now sure, training a muscle group in the gym takes a lot longer than this, but if you've only got a small amount of time, it's clearly better than staying on the couch!
"Stay Fit Stay Flexed!"
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