Consistent exercise is good for a person’s health and well-being – that much is well known. But how many minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity are needed to reduce the risk of mortality? ONE study published in the journal Circulation shared findings on how much and what level of physical activity is needed to reduce mortality.

While 2018 guidelines for physical activity recommends that adults engage in at least 150 to 300 minutes per week of moderate exercise, 75 to 150 minutes per week of vigorous movement, or a similar combination of both intensities, found that if adults do more than the recommended amount, it can reduce their risk of death. Moderate physical activity is defined as walking, weight lifting and lower intensity exercise. Meanwhile, vigorous exercise is categorized as running, cycling and swimming.

From two large prospective US cohorts, 116,221 adults self-reported leisure time physical activity—defined as exercise not performed at work—through a validated questionnaire. The questionnaire was repeated up to 15 times over 30 years.

The study found that exercising two to four times beyond the minimum recommendations for vigorous physical activity led to a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease. Those who exercised two to four times above the recommendations for moderate physical activity — about 300 to 599 minutes each week — saw the greatest benefits.

Participants who performed two to four times the recommended amount of moderate physical activity had a 26% to 31% lower all-cause mortality and a 28% to 38% lower risk of cardiovascular disease mortality. On top of that, there was an observed 25% to 27% lower risk of mortality from non-cardiovascular disease.

Adults who exercised two to four times more than the recommended amount of vigorous physical activity — about 150 to 299 minutes per week — were found to have a 21% to 23% lower risk of all-cause mortality, according to the study. They were also reported to have a 27% to 33% lower risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease and a 19% lower risk of mortality from non-cardiovascular disease.

“A significantly lower risk of mortality was observed among individuals who had adequate levels of both prolonged leisure, moderate and vigorous physical activity,” says the study, which notes that higher levels of vigorous physical activity were associated with lower mortality among those with insufficient levels of moderate physical activity each week.

But this was not the case for those who already had high levels of moderate physical activity – more than 300 minutes each week. The study notes that “any combination of medium to high levels” of vigorous (75 to 300 minutes per week) and moderate physical activity (150 to 600 minutes per week) “can produce nearly the maximum mortality reduction,” which is about 35% to 42%.

In addition, people who are insufficiently active—meaning less than 75 minutes per week of vigorous or less than 150 minutes of moderate physical activity—may gain greater benefits in reducing mortality by adding modest levels of either exercise. That’s 75 to 150 minutes per week of vigorous exercise or 150 to 300 minutes per week of moderate physical activity. Meeting the minimum requirement for moderate and vigorous activity can reduce mortality from cardiovascular disease by 22% to 31%.

ONE separate study published in JAMA Oncology shows that small amounts of vigorous intermittent physical activity in lifestyle were associated with lower cancer risk. This refers to short and sporadic bouts of vigorous physical activity in daily life, such as bursts of very fast walking or stair climbing for about one to two minutes.

While younger people tend to choose vigorous activities more often, older adults choose moderate levels of exercise. Still, there was no evidence that one was better than the other in older people compared to younger people.

Instead, in addition to prolonged moderate physical activity, “long-term vigorous physical activity in generally healthy older adults may be an effective means of improving health,” the study says.

“It is well documented that light to moderate regular physical activity prevents” cardiovascular disease, the study says. “However, previous studies also showed evidence that long-term high-intensity endurance exercise (eg, marathon, triathlon, long-distance cycling) can cause adverse events such as myocardial fibrosis, coronary artery calcification and atrial fibrillation, as well as sudden cardiac death.”

Nevertheless, this study suggests that there is no detrimental effect of high, prolonged vigorous physical activity on cardiovascular health. But more studies are needed.