With so much emphasis being placed on accumulating a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise a week, there’s little discussion about what you should be doing the other 9,930 minutes.  

Sure, the estimated 20-per-cent reduction in mortality risk among individuals who meet the recommended amount of physical activity is impressive enough on its own. But there’s even greater improvements in longevity when you do more than just rest on the laurels of meeting the bare minimum.

A recent study published in the journal of Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism took on the challenge of determining the impact of supplementing 150 minutes of intentional physical activity with more incidental movement during the day.  

“Important questions remain regarding the joint and comparative benefits of light physical activity and moderate to vigorous physical activity,” said the study’s authors, who hail from the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont. 

Light physical activity broadly covers most of the movement behaviours outside of deliberate exercise. Household chores and yard work, strolling to the store, bus stop or coffee shop, playing with the kids, walking the dog and low-intensity recreational activities like lawn games, fishing and leisurely paddling are examples of the type of activity that people engage in........

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