Just a few minutes of getting out of breath each day — such as by pushing hard uphill on your bike — can dramatically cut your risk of eight major diseases, including heart disease, dementia and diabetes.
A study of nearly 100,000 people, all part of the UK Biobank study, found that it's not just how much you move but how intensely you move that matters.
The participants wore wrist-based accelerometers for one week. The devices captured detailed movement patterns, including short bursts of intense activity that people might not remember or report.
Researchers then tracked participants' risk of developing eight major diseases over the next seven years: major cardiovascular disease, irregular heartbeat, type 2 diabetes, immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, liver disease, chronic respiratory diseases, chronic kidney disease and dementia.
The study, published this year in the European Heart Journal, showed that brief moments of higher-intensity effort, such as running to catch a bus or cycling uphill, were associated with lower risks of both disease and death.
The protective effects were especially pronounced for inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, serious cardiovascular problems such as heart attack and stroke, and dementia.
Lead researcher Professor Minxue Shen from the Xiangya School of Public Health at Central South University in Hunan, China, said: "We know that physical activity reduces the risk of chronic disease and premature death, and there is growing evidence that vigorous activity provides greater health benefits per minute than moderate activity.
"But questions remain about the importance of intense activity versus total physical activity. For example, if two people do the same total amount of activity, does the person who exercises more vigorously gain greater health benefits? And if someone has limited time, should they focus on exercising harder rather than longer?"
The results showed that people who did more vigorous movement had much lower risks across all eight conditions studied. Compared with those who did no vigorous activity, participants with the highest levels had a 63% lower risk of dementia, a 60% lower risk of type 2 diabetes and a 46% lower risk of death.
Exercise intensity also played a larger role for certain diseases. For inflammatory conditions such as arthritis and psoriasis, intensity was the key factor in lowering risk, whereas for diabetes and chronic liver disease, both how long people were active and how hard they exercised were important.
Professor Shen says vigorous physical activity appears to trigger specific beneficial responses in the body: "During vigorous physical activity — the kind that makes you feel out of breath — your body responds in powerful ways. Your heart pumps more efficiently, your blood vessels become more flexible, and your body improves its ability to use oxygen.
"Vigorous activity also appears to reduce inflammation. This may help explain why we saw strong associations with inflammatory conditions such as psoriasis and arthritis.
"It may also stimulate chemicals in the brain that help keep brain cells healthy, which could help explain the lower risk of dementia."
The study suggests making some of your physical activity vigorous can provide substantial health benefits. Even a few minutes per day of getting slightly breathless — such as by riding uphill or taking the stairs quickly — can make a meaningful difference.
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