Even a little exercise is better than no exercise for a longer, better life

People who get even a small amount of exercise may be less likely to die prematurely than their more sedentary counterparts, a research review suggests.

Researchers examined data from 10 previously published studies that used accelerometers that track movement to measure the exact amount of active and sedentary time spent by more than 36,000 older adults. After an average follow-up period of 6.7 years, a total of 2,149 people died, or about 6 per cent of the participants.

Compared to people who got virtually no exercise, people who got the most physical activity were 73 per cent less likely to die during the study, regardless of how intensely they worked out. With even a little exercise, people were 52 per cent less like to die.

When researchers looked only at people who did light workouts, they again found that even a little bit of low-intensity exercise was associated with a 40 per cent lower risk of death during the study compared with doing nothing at all. People who got the most light-intensity exercise were 62 per cent less likely to die. Read Complete Article