Every Single Minute of Physical Activity Helps, Says Optimistic New Study
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends that adults do at least 150 minutes of moderate to higher-intensity physical activity each week, and it should be in bursts of at least 10 minutes each for substantial health benefits.
Which has led many to wonder about the inefficacy of brief activities. Why take two minutes going up the stairs if more than 10 minutes is required to make it worthwhile for health?
But now a new study suggests something else: go ahead, take the stairs! Every minute counts toward reaching the 150-minute goal, whether it's part of a 10-minute bout or not.
Also see: 5 ways walking is better than running
The purpose of the study conducted at the University of Utah was to see if moderate to vigorous physical activity in less than 10-minute episodes related to weight outcomes.
The study, published in the American Journal of Health Promotion, found that each minute spent engaging in some kind of moderate to vigorous physical activity -- be it walking the dog, vacuuming, or taking the stairs -- was associated with lower BMI and lower weight.
"The idea here is, you can do a minute at a time and that's not a problem," says Jessie Fan, lead author of the new paper and a family and consumer studies professor at the University of Utah.
For the women who participated in the study, each minute spent in higher-intensity activity was associated with a .07 drop in body mass index (BMI). For a 5'4" woman, that means a loss of nearly half a pound, which may not sound like much, that's just for one minute. They add up.
The authors concluded that the current 10-minute activity bouts guideline was based on health benefits other than weight outcomes and that their findings showed that for weight gain prevention, accumulated higher-intensity physical activity bouts of less than 10 minutes are quite beneficial, supporting the message that "every minute counts."
"I think it's easier for people to process that message," Fan says. "Otherwise, if they don't have a block of time they might be discouraged, and they don't do anything."
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