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Exceeding current exercise guidelines provides additional survival gain

Current physical activity guidelines for adults recommend to do a minimum of 150 to 300 minutes a week of moderate exercise or 75 to 150 minutes a week of vigorous exercise, or an equivalent combination of both. Health risks from not achieving this minimum are well established. However, some people like to do a lot of exercise although not being professional athletes, which is also associated with some concerns. Some studies have suggested that long-term, high-intensity exercise (eg, marathons, triathlons, and long-distance cycling) may be associated with increased risks of atrial fibrillation, coronary artery calcification, and sudden cardiac death. Most studies suggesting harm, however, have used only one measurement of physical activity capturing a mix of people who chronically exercise at high levels and those who do it sporadically, which possibly can be harmful. A new analysis of two US cohorts published July 25 in the Circulation journal is very reassuring to people with high long-term leisure-time physical activity.

A total of 116221 adults from 2 large prospective US cohorts (Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study, 1988–2018) were analyzed. Detailed self-reported leisure-time physical activity was assessed with a validated questionnaire, repeated up to 15 times during the follow-up. Cox regression was used to estimate the hazard ratio and 95% CI of the association between long-term leisure-time physical activity intensity and all-cause and cause-specific mortality.

During 30 years of follow-up, a total of 47596 deaths was identified. In analyses mutually adjusted for moderate physical activity (MPA) and vigorous physical activity (VPA), hazard ratios comparing individuals meeting the long-term leisure-time VPA guideline (75–149 min/wk) versus no VPA were 0.81 (95% CI, 0.76–0.87) for all-cause mortality, 0.69 (95% CI, 0.60–0.78) for cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, and 0.85 (95% CI, 0.79–0.92) for non-CVD mortality. Meeting the long-term leisure-time MPA guideline (150–299 min/wk) was similarly associated with lower mortality: 19% to 25% lower risk of all-cause, CVD, and non-CVD mortality. Compared with those meeting the long-term leisure-time physical activity guidelines, participants who reported 2 to 4 times above the recommended minimum of long-term leisure-time VPA (150–299 min/wk) or MPA (300–599 min/wk) showed 2% to 4% and 3% to 13% lower mortality, respectively. Higher levels of either long-term leisure-time VPA (≥300 min/wk) or MPA (≥600 min/wk) did not clearly show further lower all-cause, CVD, and non-CVD mortality or harm. In joint analyses, for individuals who reported <300 min/wk of long-term leisure-time MPA, additional leisure-time VPA was associated with lower mortality; however, among those who reported ≥300 min/wk of long-term leisure-time MPA, additional leisure-time VPA did not appear to be associated with lower mortality beyond MPA.

Reference: https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.121.058162

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