It’s easy to put your feet up when you retire, but those wanting a longer life should take heart – you only have to do a bit more exercise than a couch potato to earn extra years.
Whether it’s digging the garden, mowing the lawn or taking the dog for a walk, just 30 minutes of light exercise a day cuts the risk of an early death by 17 per cent, researchers found.
The NHS suggests all adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, such as swimming, cycling or brisk walking. And it calls for bouts of at least ten minutes a time to allow the heart rate to build up.
Research has shown that 30 minutes of light exercise a day, such as walking the dog, cuts risk of early death by 17 per cent
But experts are worried elderly people find this too daunting. They fear instead of doing what exercise they can, too many pensioners give up and sit on the sofa instead. But the research, led by academics at University College London, reveals any exercise at all is good for the elderly, no matter how light.
And their study, which tracked 1,200 British men in their 70s and 80s for an average of five years, found the benefits started from the first minute, meaning there was no need to focus on ten-minute bouts.
The researchers, whose work is published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, found only 16 per cent of men managed to hit the official NHS moderate exercise target.
But most do plenty of light exercise from strolling to the shops to walking around the garden.
Researchers, who monitored participants with electronic trackers, found they spent an average 200 minutes a day doing light exercise – a quarter of their waking time. And the more they did, the better.
For every extra half-hour a day, the risk of dying dropped even further.
Although University College London academics only studied men in the 70s and 80s, study leader Dr Barbara Jefferis said there was no reason it would not apply to women as well
Moderate exercise – defined as anything that gets the heart rate up, such as digging in the garden or walking briskly – was even more beneficial, with half an hour cutting the risk of death by 33 per cent.
But the researchers said it is better to do some exercise than nothing at all. And they found the ten-minute threshold made no difference to mortality at all.
Study leader Dr Barbara Jefferis of UCL said: ‘If you can manage the 150 minutes of moderate exercise that’s great, but if you can’t, anything you can do will be of benefit. And don’t feel that you shouldn’t start at all. As people get older, more intensive activity becomes a bit harder, so lighter exercise gets the body going a bit more.
‘Light exercise might be walking to the shops. It might be walking around the garden doing some potting. Moderate exercise is anything that gets the heart pumping and gets the body warm, for example, brisk walking, or digging in the garden or mowing the lawn.’
Dr Jefferis said although her team had only studied men, there was no reason it would not apply to women as well.
She said the current advice relies on old evidence, gathered in science labs or from questionnaires. Activity trackers, worn on the hip, have allowed scientists to track accurately how much light exercise people really do for the first time.