Exercise studies, tips and resources
The tips and studies this guide is built on, each in one line you can pass on. Tap Copy and it goes in a message with its link.
Tips to pass on
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If you can, start with what you have, like brisk walks from your front door and six body-weight moves with a chair and a counter.
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Doing less than the guideline still went with 20% lower risk of death than doing nothing, in 661,137 adults.
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People who did cardio and strength work had 40% lower risk of death than people who did neither, in a review of 16 studies.
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Brisk means you can talk but not sing, about 100 steps a minute. Count your steps for 15 seconds and multiply by 4.
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In 350,978 US adults, the same weekly minutes on one or two days went with the same death rates as spreading them out.
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7,000 steps a day went with 47% lower risk of death than 2,000, in a 2025 review of 57 studies.
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About 4.4 minutes a day of hard bursts, like a fast flight of stairs, went with 26% to 30% lower risk of death in adults who never exercised.
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People who sat over 8 hours a day but moved 60 to 75 minutes a day showed no clear extra risk from the sitting.
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The body made up about 28% of the calories extra activity burned, so exercise is better at keeping weight off than taking it off.
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A mile run costs about 100 calories above sitting at 160 pounds, at almost any pace, since a faster mile ends sooner.
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For new back pain, keep moving instead of resting in bed. Loss of bladder or bowel control, or numbness in your buttocks or legs, needs help right away.
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In 108 trials of people 60 and up, exercise cut the rate of falls by 23%.
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63% of new members at one gym had stopped going before their third month. Plan now for the missed week.
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Chest pain, fainting or getting out of breath with light effort? See a doctor before you start.
The studies
How much
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1986. Men who walked, climbed stairs and played sports had lower death rates.
Paffenbarger and others, 16,936 Harvard alumni
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2015. Less than the guideline went with 20% lower risk of death than none, and the curve flattened at 39% lower at 3 to 5 times the guideline.
Arem and others, 661,137 adults
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2022. Doing both aerobic and strength exercise went with 40% lower risk of death than doing neither.
Momma and others, 16 studies
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2022. With the same total minutes, one or two days a week did as well as spreading them out.
dos Santos and others, 350,978 US adults
Steps and the rest of the day
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2025. 7,000 steps a day went with 47% lower risk of death than 2,000.
Ding and others, 57 studies
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2022. The drop in risk flattened at 6,000 to 8,000 steps a day at 60 and up, and 8,000 to 10,000 for younger adults.
Paluch and others, 15 cohorts, 47,471 adults
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2022. About 4.4 minutes a day of short hard bursts in daily life went with 26% to 30% lower risk of death.
Stamatakis and others, 25,241 adults who didn't exercise
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2016. Sitting over 8 hours a day showed no clear extra risk in people who moved 60 to 75 minutes a day.
Ekelund and others, about a million adults
Cardio
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2019. 100 steps a minute marked moderate effort 91.4% of the time.
Tudor-Locke and others, 76 adults 21 to 40
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2015. Steady cardio raised fitness by about 4.9 ml/kg/min and intervals by about 5.5, against no exercise.
Milanović and others, 28 trials
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2017. People who played racket sports had 47% lower risk of death than people who didn't, and swimmers 28%.
Oja and others, 80,306 British adults
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2019. Climbing 60 stairs fast 3 times a day, 3 days a week for 6 weeks raised fitness a little.
Jenkins and others, 24 inactive young adults
Starting and keeping going
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2016. 63% stopped going before their third month, and under 4% kept going for a year.
Sperandei and others, 5,240 new gym members
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2021. The best program gave small rewards for coming back after a missed workout.
Milkman and others, 61,293 gym members, 54 programs
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2024. A habit took a median of 59 to 66 days to form in the studies that timed it.
Singh and others, 20 studies
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2017. Push-ups adjusted to the same load built chest and triceps and raised the bench press as much as a bench press did, in 8 weeks.
Kikuchi and Nakazato, 18 young men
Weight, calories, age and pain
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2021. The body made up about 28% of the calories extra activity burned.
Careau and others, 1,754 adults
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2004. Running a mile took about 40% more energy than walking it.
Hall and others, 24 adults
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2019. Exercise cut the rate of falls by 23% in people 60 and up living at home.
Sherrington and others, Cochrane, 108 trials
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2021. Exercise cut long-lasting low back pain by about 15 points on a 100-point scale, against no treatment or usual care.
Hayden and others, Cochrane, 249 trials
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2024. A walking plan pushed back the next bout of back pain from a median of 112 days to 208.
Pocovi and others, the WalkBack trial, 701 adults
Resources
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Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition The US guideline: 150 to 300 brisk minutes and two strength days a week for adults.
US Department of Health and Human Services
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Move Your Way activity planner Pick your activities and print a weekly plan.
US Department of Health and Human Services
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Adult Activity: An Overview The guideline for adults, with every major muscle group listed.
CDC
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Measuring physical activity intensity The talk test, and which activities count as moderate or vigorous.
CDC
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What counts as physical activity for adults Body-weight moves and digging in the garden count as strength work.
CDC
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Compendium of Physical Activities The lab table of what over 1,100 activities cost, behind every calorie number here.
The Compendium team
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Low back pain, acute What to do in the first weeks, and the signs that need a doctor right away.
MedlinePlus (NIH)
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Child Activity: An Overview For anyone under 18: an hour a day, with hard, muscle and bone work on 3 days a week.
CDC
