Short bursts of activity offer significant health benefits

For those finding it hard to fit in a daily thirty minute workout, there’s good news.  A recent study published online in the Journal of the American Heart Association, has found that all moderate and vigorous activity throughout the day count towards reducing your risk of death, even if it’s a short burst of activity.  Short bursts of activity include climbing stairs instead of taking an elevator, walking briskly around the block, dancing to an upbeat song or taking a three-minute jog, each add up to better health benefits.

Past recommendations on physical activity

Since 2008, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has recommended Americans get at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity every week, preferably over several days. But for some people, carving out that chunk of time of thirty to sixty minutes all at once, can be difficult to do when living a busy schedule.  Now, science is saying, “no worries.”  Throughout the day, doing several short bursts of activity of just a few minutes can help stave off potentially deadly conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.

Study findings

Researchers with the study looked at the experience of 4,840 participants, 40 years of age and older, who took part in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2003 and 2006.  Each participant wore tracking devices to keep tabs on their activity. 

Conclusions from this study showed that short bursts of activity do add up and ultimately reap big health benefits. 

The federal guidelines’ advice conflicted with what this study is saying.  Those guidelines had suggested that if an activity lasted less than 10 minutes in length that it didn’t count towards health benefits.  This new study had participants deliberately doing activities during their day that took much less than 10 minutes, such as taking the stairs, parking farther away from work, and walking into a store to order and get their coffee instead of ordering from a drive-thru window.

What the researchers found was that as long as the intensity of a short burst of activity reached a moderate or vigorous level, it paid off in long-term health improvements.  Researchers agreed that it’s still a good thing to get at least 30 minutes of exercise on most days of the week as it can lead to a reduced risk of an early death.  But for those who find it hard to squeeze in that block of time, they can find time to fit in “quick’ workouts that may involve climbing stairs or taking a brisk five minute walk during lunch hour. 

Basically, the more physical activity one does each day, the greater the benefits to overall health which can lead to a longer life.  The findings support that it is the total physical activity that is accumulated that matters.  So if a person has a goal to aim for 150 minutes a week of exercise, whether it’s divided up into short duration more frequently (short bursts of activity) or longer bouts of exercise, it all counts.