I don't care who you are, or how busy you are, everyone has surely got 11 minutes a day they can spare for their health.

This new study analyzed data from multiple studies and including 30 million people worldwide and came to the conclusion that 11 minutes a day is all it takes to decrease your likelihood of early death by 23%. Additionally, 10% of early deaths could be erased with 75 minutes of moderate-intensity activity each week.

The Good News Network has the story:

The team led by researchers at the University of Cambridge showed how one in ten early deaths could be prevented if everyone managed to reach the threshold of 75 minutes per week of moderate-intensity physical activity.

The study demonstrated that this would be sufficient to lower the risk of heart disease and stroke – the leading causes of death globally — as well as a number of cancers.

Heart disease! Stroke! Cancer! All are mitigated by just a minimal amount of daily exercise.

And let's not forget about Covid!

Guys, there's no excuse.

To explore the amount of physical activity necessary to have a beneficial impact on several chronic diseases and premature death, researchers from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis, pooling and analyzing cohort data from all of the published evidence. This approach allowed them to bring together studies that on their own did not provide sufficient evidence and sometimes disagreed with each other to provide more robust conclusions...

The researchers found that, outside of work-related physical activity, two out of three people reported activity levels below 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity activity, the amount recommended by NHS, Britain's national health service.

Broadly speaking, they found that beyond 150 min per week of moderate-intensity activity, the additional benefits in terms of reduced risk of disease or early death were marginal. But even half this amount came with significant benefits: accumulating 75 min per week of moderate-intensity activity brought with it a 23% lower risk of early death.

Between 75-150 minutes a week there's a sweet spot. But in general, if you just hit that minimum goal of only 75 minutes a week of moderate exercise outside work, you're helping yourself live longer.

Specifically, 75 minutes per week was enough to reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease by 17% and cancer by 7%. For some specific cancers, the reduction in risk was greater – head and neck, myeloid leukemia, myeloma, and gastric cardia cancers were between 14-26% lower risk. For other cancers, such as lung, liver, endometrial, colon, and breast cancer, a 3-11% lower risk was observed.

"We know that physical activity, such as walking or cycling, is good for you, especially if you feel it raises your heart rate. But what we've found is there are substantial benefits to heart health and reducing your risk of cancer even if you can only manage 10 minutes every day," stated Professor James Woodcock from the MRC Epidemiology Unit.

The researchers calculated that if everyone in the studies had completed a full 150 min per week of moderate-intensity activity, around one in six (16%) early deaths would be prevented. One in nine (11%) cases of cardiovascular disease and one in 20 (5%) cases of cancer would be prevented.

That's good enough for me! Get out there, start exercising, and get that heart rate pumping.

The sunlight isn't going to hurt you either.