Australians Live Longer with Vigorous Activity

New research shows you get a big boost from even a few minutes of vigorous activity. Of course, an exercise program that gets you to the gym several times a week is great. But even running up the stairs or walking quickly up hills on your usual route can make a difference (European Heart Journal, March 29, 2026).

How Does Vigorous Activity Affect Health?

The study compared two groups of people. In one group, there were more than 96,000 volunteers with an average age of 62 in a prospective cohort. These folks wore accelerometers on their wrists to quantify their physical activity. Another group of more than 375,000 participated in the UK Biobank. These individuals, with an average age of 56, reported their own physical activity. Scientists followed both these groups for years. They they analyzed the data to discover how activity relates to a range of health outcomes like cardiovascular complications, type 2 diabetes, immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) and liver disease. They also looked at chronic respiratory problems, kidney disease and dementia, as well as the risk of dying during the study.

People who included more vigorous activity in their day, regardless of the total amount of exercise, were less likely to develop any of these chronic conditions. Intense activity was especially protective against immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. Data from the devices was especially clear in revealing the benefits of short bursts of vigorous activity sprinkled into daily life.

Australian Research Supports the Benefits of Vigorous Activity

This is not the first study to uncover the benefits of vigorous activity. Australian researchers previously looked at how activity level is related to longevity.

In this study, more than 200,000 adults ranging in age from 45 through 75 were tracked from February, 2006, through June, 2014 (JAMA Internal Medicine, June, 2015). Though not everyone plays Aussie “footy” (Australian rules football, as seen in the photo), those who engaged in moderate to vigorous physical activity were less likely to die during the study period. Australians who had any moderate to vigorous activity had a 34 percent lower risk of mortality than those who reported none.

Better Results from Vigorous Activity:

Vigorous exercise provided people even more protection. In comparison to those who did no vigorous activity, those who reported that at least a third of their exercise qualified as vigorous were only 87 percent as likely to die.

The authors point out that

“Lack of time is a major barrier to physical activity. Because vigorous activity is more time-efficient in achieving health benefits than moderate activity, promoting vigorous activity might be particularly fruitful for those for whom insufficient time is a major barrier.”

They conclude that, “Doing some vigorous activity might be important for increasing longevity among middle aged and older adults.”

The dose-response relationship that the researchers uncovered suggests, though it does not prove, that the link is causal: more exercise leads to better health and lower mortality rates. This connection is not limited to Australia. Americans also get great benefit from moderate or vigorous activity. Unfortunately, too few of us engage in it.