Just 11 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous intensity aerobic activity per day could lower your risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, or premature death, a large new study has found and was recently published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Eleven minutes is nothing. It’s less than one percent of your day.
And this is a no-joke study.
Scientists from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom looked at data from 196 studies, amounting to more than 30 million adult participants who were followed for ten years on average.
People who exercised 75 minutes per week, or 11 minutes per day, enjoyed a 23% lower risk of early death.
Double that number to 22 minutes per day – still less than one percent of your day – and the results are even more extraordinary:
A 31% lower risk of dying from any cause, a 29% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, and a 15% lower risk of dying from cancer.
All of those potential benefits for committing less than one percent of your day to exercise.
Astounding.
I argue in my book, “Someday Is Today,” as well as constantly aloud to anyone who will listen, in support of incrementalism:
The belief that small changes made over long stretches of time produce extraordinary results.
While incrementalism is real and exceeding powerful, many people reject it as truth because they cannot see the results immediately. Rather than exercising vigorously for 11 or 22 minutes per day, people would rather join a gym, hire a trainer, purchase a Peleton, train for a marathon, purchase a new wardrobe from Lululemon, research the just-right headband, and more.
But jogging around the block for 11 minutes would also do the trick.
Riding a bike down the street for six minutes and then turning back would produce the desired results.
Dancing in the kitchen to four Springsteen songs – “Dancing in the Dark,” “Hungry Heart,” “Rosalita,” and “Glory Days” – would also get the job done.
Actually, “Dancing in the Dark” and “Rosalita” alone clock in at just over 11 minutes, but it’s Springsteen.
Why stop at just two?
In all three cases, the exercise admittedly needs to be vigorous. You need to increase your heart rate to produce the results. But jogging, biking, and even dancing can all easily raise your heart rate to the desired level.
Just imagine:
Less than one percent of your day can lower your risk of ceasing to exist by as much as 31%.
You’d be crazy not to do this if you aren’t exercising already.
Right?
