According to a study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, regular aerobic exercise can significantly reduce the risk of dying from the flu or pneumonia. Adults who met the recommended goals for aerobic activity had a 36% reduction in this risk when other factors were considered.
The recommended amount of time that adults should do aerobic and muscle-strengthening exercise each week is:
- At least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, or equal durations of moderate-intensity aerobic activity.
- Muscle strengthening exercises (moderate intensity or higher) 2 times per week.
- Aerobic exercise, such as brisk/speed walking, swimming, running, and climbing stairs, is a stretching activity that increases the heart rate. Muscle-strengthening activities involve moving and lifting objects, such as weights, resistance bands, squats, lunges and push-ups (calisthenics), and strenuous gardening.
The investigators analyzed the responses of 577,909 adult participants. The United States' nationally representative National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) from 1998 to 2018 to determine whether specific types or amounts of physical activity were associated with increased risk of death from influenza or pneumonia or not.
The investigators identified five levels of physical activity for aerobic activity: Moderate to vigorous physical activity of less than 10 minutes; 10 to 149 minutes; 150 to 300 minutes; 301 to 600 minutes; or more than 600 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity. They identified five levels of physical activity for muscle-strengthening activities: less than 2, 2, 3, 4 to 6, or 7 or more sessions per week.
Based on physical activity level, a participant did not meet their weekly aerobic or muscle-strengthening goals; achieve aerobic activity goals; achieve muscle strengthening goals; or meet both. At least 34% of participants were not aerobically active, 78% performed less than 2 sessions of muscle-strengthening exercise per week, and 50.5% failed to meet their weekly goal.
Participants who met the recommended weekly fitness goal had a 48 percent reduced risk of dying from the flu or pneumonia compared with those who didn't, after accounting for other predisposing factors. Although 10 to 149 minutes of aerobic activity per week reduced the risk of death by 21% compared with those who did not, those who engaged in 301 to 600 minutes of aerobic activity per week doubled their protection. from death compared to those who exercised for 10 minutes. to 149 minutes (21% and 50% respectively).
“Efforts to reduce mortality from influenza and pneumonia in adults may focus on reducing rates of aerobic inactivity and increasing rates of achieving 2 bps/week of muscle-strengthening activity, The study authors said in the press release.