Study: Just a Few Minutes of Vigorous Exercise a Day May Lower Risk of Eight Major Diseases

A new study from the UK Biobank shows that accumulating just a few minutes a day of moderate-to-vigorous activity that leaves you slightly breathless may lower the risk of eight major diseases, including heart disease, dementia, and diabetes. The research was conducted by an international team and has been published in the European Heart Journal.

The researchers point out that it is not only whether you exercise, but also the intensity of exercise that matters for health benefits. The team analyzed data on nearly 96,000 participants, using wrist accelerometers worn for a week to record the brief, easily overlooked bursts of high-intensity activity in daily life, such as hurrying to catch a bus or quickly climbing stairs.

The researchers then compared overall activity volume and the proportion of vigorous exercise with the participants' risk, over the following approximately seven years, of developing major cardiovascular disease, arrhythmia, type 2 diabetes, immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, liver disease, chronic respiratory disease, chronic kidney disease, and dementia.

The results showed that the higher the proportion of vigorous exercise, the more pronounced the health benefits. Compared with those who did no vigorous exercise at all, the group with the most vigorous activity had a 63% lower risk of dementia, a 60% lower risk of type 2 diabetes, and a 46% lower risk of death.

The study also found that different diseases have different exercise requirements. For inflammatory diseases such as arthritis and psoriasis, exercise intensity matters more; for diabetes and chronic liver disease, both exercise duration and intensity need to be considered.

The researchers emphasized that increasing exercise intensity does not necessarily require going to the gym. Simply incorporating brief bursts of vigorous activity into daily life—such as brisk walking, quickly climbing stairs, or actively playing with children—may bring tangible benefits.

In addition, the researchers found that even just 15 to 20 minutes a week of small amounts of high-intensity activity was associated with health benefits. However, they also cautioned that vigorous exercise may not suit everyone, especially the elderly or those with specific conditions, so the way one exercises should still be individualized.