You don’t like sports and, despite all your efforts, you can’t manage to do those famous 30 minutes of physical activity a day? Good news: according to a new study carried out by the University of Sydney (in Australia), being short of breath once a day would already be enough to improve your life expectancy.
By studying medical data on 25,000 people who declared themselves to be “non-athletes” for 7 years, Australian researchers found that 3 to 4 minutes of intense physical activity a day reduced the risk of dying from a stroke by around 40%. cancer and 49% that of dying from a cardiovascular cause.
A peak of physical activity comparable to a HIIT session
According to scientists, these “physical activity peaks” can be very varied – for example: running after the bus, picking up the pace when walking down the street, playing in the garden with the children, doing housework with a bit of of zeal, running up the stairs… The challenge is to be out of breath.
How can this drop in mortality be explained? According to the researchers, this “peak of physical activity” leads to an increase in heart rate for at least 1 minute, which is good for your health. It is ultimately the same principle as during a HIIT workout, a cardio sport that is currently very fashionable.
Unsurprisingly, the benefits of these “peaks of physical activity” are greater when they are repeated. Thus, people who make about 11 peaks of physical activity during the day (i.e. 11 times 4 minutes of shortness of breath over a period of 24 hours, it is not unattainable!) reduce their risk of cardiovascular mortality by 65% in average, according to the Australian researchers.
Source : NatureMedicine.