| Typical weekly activity pattern | Extra years of life compared with being totally sedentary* | Key sources |
|---|---|---|
| ~75 min of brisk walking (about 0.5 × current guidelines) | ≈ 1.8 years | (PLOS Journals) |
| 150–300 min of moderate activity (or 75–150 min vigorous) – the minimum public‑health guideline | ≈ 3.4 – 4.5 years | (PLOS Journals) |
| 300–450 min of moderate activity (about 2 × guidelines) | ≈ 4.5 + years (plateau begins) | (PLOS Journals) |
| Matching the top 25 % of U.S. adults measured by accelerometer (average ≈ 9,000 daily steps) | ≈ 5.3 years (modelled average gain for everyone aged ≥ 40) | |
| Active and normal‑weight versus inactive and class‑II/III obese | ≈ 7.2 years | (PLOS Journals) |
| Elite endurance athletes (e.g., sub‑4‑min milers) | ≈ 4–5 years longer than the general population | (American College of Cardiology) |
| Range found in earlier life‑table studies (systematic review, mostly self‑report) | 0.4 – 4.2 years | (British Journal of Sports Medicine) |
It’s a dose–response curve with diminishing returns.
The first 75–150 minutes a week delivers the steepest benefit. Beyond roughly 300 minutes of moderate activity the curve flattens, but risk keeps falling – no credible evidence of harm up to at least 6,000 MET‑min/week (≈ 10 hours of moderate cycling or 5 hours of running). (PLOS Journals, American College of Cardiology)
Device‑measured studies shift the estimates upward.
Accelerometers capture all movement (not just what people remember), and suggest population‑wide gains of ~5 years if everyone moved like the most active quartile.
Benefits are greatest for the least active.
In the Veerman life‑table analysis, an extra hour of walking per day added ~6 hours of life for people in the bottom activity quartile – a remarkable return on time invested.
Quality as well as quantity matters.
Vigorous bursts (running, sport, stair climbing) shave mortality risk more than the same total minutes done at light intensity, likely via superior cardiorespiratory fitness, blood‑pressure control and insulin sensitivity. (American College of Cardiology)
Lifestyle “bundles” amplify the effect.
When regular exercise is combined with not smoking, a healthy weight and prudent diet, total longevity gains of 8–10 years are consistently reported – exercise is a key pillar but not the only one. (PLOS Journals)
| If you are currently… | Aim for… | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Sedentary (0–30 min/week) | Add 10 min/day of brisk walking to start. | This small change alone would prevent an estimated 110,000 premature deaths per year in the U.S. and move you into the “1.8 years gained” bracket. (Harvard Health) |
| Doing some activity but below guidelines | Work up to the 150‑minute target (e.g., 30 min, 5 days/week). | Moves you into the ~3–4 year longevity gain zone. |
| Meeting guidelines | If you enjoy it, double the volume or mix in vigorous intervals. | Adds another half‑year to year of life on average, plus further reductions in heart‑disease and cancer risk. |
| Already highly active | Keep going – evidence to 10,000 MET‑min/week shows no excess mortality. | Focus on recovery, injury prevention and overall lifestyle balance. (American College of Cardiology) |