Did moderate exercise, like walking, match hard exercise?
Nearly, minute for minute, in this study. 150 to 224 minutes a week of moderate exercise, such as walking, came with a 20% lower risk of dying than almost none (Lee, 2022). The same minutes of hard exercise, such as running, came with a 21% lower risk of dying than none (Lee, 2022). The likely ranges of the two kinds overlap at every amount in the table below, so the study shows no clear gap between them. The US guidelines ask for at least 150 minutes a week of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of hard exercise (Lee, 2022). The study wasn't a head-to-head trial of the two kinds of exercise. This was in 116,221 US adults followed for up to 30 years (Lee, 2022). Every number links to its source.
The short version
- Minute for minute, moderate exercise came with about the same lower risk of dying as hard exercise (Lee, 2022).
- Moderate exercise here means walking, lower-intensity exercise, weightlifting and calisthenics. Hard exercise means activities such as jogging, running, swimming, cycling, tennis, outdoor work and stair climbing (Lee, 2022).
- More moderate exercise kept coming with a lower risk of dying, up to the highest amount the study counted, 10 or more hours a week. For hard exercise the drop levelled off past about 5 hours a week (Lee, 2022).
- The authors put the amounts with nearly the lowest risk of dying at about 150 to 300 minutes a week of hard exercise, 300 to 600 minutes of moderate exercise, or a mix of the two (Lee, 2022).
- Among people who already did 300 minutes or more of moderate exercise a week, adding hard exercise came with no clear further drop in the risk of dying (Lee, 2022).
The two kinds of exercise, side by side
Each row compares people at that amount with people who did none of that kind of exercise, or for moderate exercise under 20 minutes a week. The figures for each kind allow for how much of the other kind people did (Lee, 2022). The likely range is in brackets.
| Minutes a week | Risk of dying with moderate exercise, such as walking | Risk of dying with hard exercise, such as running |
|---|---|---|
| 75 to 149 | 16% lower (12% to 19% lower) (Lee, 2022) | 19% lower (13% to 24% lower) (Lee, 2022) |
| 150 to 224 | 20% lower (17% to 23% lower) (Lee, 2022) | 21% lower (15% to 26% lower) (Lee, 2022) |
| 225 to 299 | 21% lower (18% to 24% lower) (Lee, 2022) | 23% lower (16% to 28% lower) (Lee, 2022) |
| 300 to 374 | 26% lower (23% to 30% lower) (Lee, 2022) | 22% lower (15% to 28% lower) (Lee, 2022) |
| 450 to 599 | 31% lower (27% to 35% lower) (Lee, 2022) | 24% lower (15% to 32% lower) (Lee, 2022) |
| 600 or more | 32% lower (27% to 36% lower) (Lee, 2022) | 26% lower (15% to 35% lower) (Lee, 2022) |
The study wasn't a head-to-head trial of moderate against hard exercise, and the likely ranges in the two columns overlap in every row. The percentages compare risks between groups. They aren't what any one person would gain by exercising more.
Can too much exercise hurt your heart?
Many people say too much exercise strains the heart. In this study, people who did 10 or more hours of hard exercise a week had a 29% lower risk of dying of heart or blood vessel disease than people who did none. The likely range is 7% to 46% lower (Lee, 2022). In two groups of the same size, that is about 5 heart deaths for every 7. That group averaged about 14 hours of hard exercise a week (Lee, 2022).
- At 75 to 149 minutes of hard exercise a week, the risk of dying of heart or blood vessel disease was 31% lower than with none (Lee, 2022). At 300 to 374 minutes it was 32% lower (Lee, 2022).
- The risk of dying of any cause was 26% lower at 10 or more hours of hard exercise a week than with none (Lee, 2022). In two groups of the same size, that is about 3 deaths for every 4.
- The authors say there was no greater risk of dying even at very high amounts of hard exercise, and no further drop in the risk of dying past 300 minutes a week (Lee, 2022).
- These figures count deaths. The paper gives no figures for heart rhythm problems.
- Earlier studies have linked long-term endurance sport, such as marathons and triathlons, to heart problems. The authors say their results suggest no harm to the heart from a lot of hard exercise, and that more studies are needed (Lee, 2022).
The study of 116,221 people
Across the whole study, 10,410 people died of heart or blood vessel disease, about 9 in 100 (Lee, 2022).
Lee and colleagues used two long-running US studies, one of female nurses and one of male health professionals. People were asked about their exercise every 2 years, up to 15 times, and the study used each person's average. Nobody had heart disease or cancer at the start. Across up to 30 years, 47,596 people died (Lee, 2022). People were 66 years old on average across the follow-up, and 63% were women (Lee, 2022).
Get the supplement tier list
30 popular supplements, ranked S to F by what trials found. Leave your email and the tier list opens straight away. I'll only write when there's a study worth your time.
Every email will have an unsubscribe link.
How far to trust these numbers
- This study watched what people already did, so it can't show that the exercise prevented the deaths. The authors say other differences between people may remain (Lee, 2022).
- People reported their own exercise, and only exercise in their free time. Activity at work or on the way to work wasn't counted (Lee, 2022).
- Few people did the highest amounts. The group doing 10 or more hours of hard exercise a week had 269 deaths, 68 of them from heart or blood vessel disease, so its likely ranges are wide (Lee, 2022).
- Most people in the study were white health professionals, so the results may not apply to everyone (Lee, 2022).