Physical Activity Guidance Update: New Rules For UK Adults

For years, institutions like the World Health Organisation and the NHS have recommended 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, or 75 minutes of higher-intensity activity, a week.

This has been linked to slower brain ageing, a reduced risk of some cancers, and better overall physical and mental health.

But while the UK government’s recent update on its chief medical officers’ physical health guidelines recommends “that all individuals work towards achieving these guidelines,” it adds, “they are not absolute thresholds”.

Some research suggests that over a third of UK adults fail to reach those recommendations.

The updated guidance doesn’t mean 150 minutes of exercise is an incorrect or ineffective benchmark. Instead, it reflects the usefulness of small increases in activity among those who find the existing suggestions intimidating.

“We recognise the benefits that can be achieved at levels both above and below 150 minutes per week,” the update reads.

The foreword to the new guidance said that if exercise were a drug, we’d see it as a “miracle cure” due to how effective it can be at treating, delaying, or even preventing diseases like coronary heart disease, stroke, dementia, diabetes, breast cancer, bowel cancer, arthritis and depression.

Proof of exercise’s benefits has only gotten stronger since the first chief medical officers’ guidelines on physical activity, they added.

For instance, we know that “the health benefits of physical activity are significant when we go from no activity to even some activity,” the guidance reads.

Indeed, recent research shows that two minutes more exercise a day can contribute to a longer life, especially if you weren’t doing much beforehand.

Another study found that four 15-minute walks spread across the week could boost longevity among older people.

A quarter of an hour of vigorous physical activity a week has been associated with a significantly lower risk of heart disease, cancer, and early death, too – even if it’s broken up into two-minute segments.

“There is clear evidence that even small increments such as taking the stairs rather than the lift, or walking to the shops, can make a surprisingly large difference to our long-term health and wellbeing if they become part of normal life,” the updated guidance said.

These health benefits do build the closer we get to the 150-minute mark (they tend to taper off after that point).

But it’s important not to be “put off if you think you cannot make 150 minutes – make a start and see how you go. Every extra bit will benefit you”.

It says adults should still try to complete 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of high-intensity activity a week, though again, some activity is far better than nothing.

We might benefit from “even shorter durations of very vigorous intensity activity” than 75 minutes a week, meanwhile. A combination of intense, moderate, and very intense exercise is a great aim too.

The guidelines also encourage at least two strength-training sessions a week for adults, “but any strengthening activity is better than none”, and suggest incorporating balance training into your routine.

Don’t stay sedentary for extended periods of time, and “break up long periods of inactivity with at least light physical activity,” too.

The revised guidance for older adults (65+), meanwhile, “give[s] greater emphasis to regular light activity” and has removed the previous suggestion to ensure these sessions lasted at least 10 minutes.