There are myriad reasons why you live the life you do \u2013 umpteen work, social and family commitments among them. It is highly unlikely you have 10 hours spare to devote to exercise<\/a>. Fortunately, there is more nuance to the research than meets the eye. <\/p>\n The study<\/a> tracked more than 17,000 people aged 40-69 over roughly eight years, investigating the relationship between daily movement, cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2 max) and incidences of cardiovascular disease. <\/p>\n It found that current World Health Organisation and NHS physical activity guidelines (150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity) offer a \u201cmodest risk reduction\u201d, while \u201coptimal cardiovascular protection\u201d may require upwards of 560 minutes per week in fit people and 610 minutes per week in unfit people. <\/p>\n But this news isn\u2019t as daunting as it first appears. <\/p>\n The good news<\/p>\n This is a good study with interesting results. But it exists within a sea of research into the impact of activity levels on health. As a fitness journalist, I have covered many of these studies and interviewed the authors. As a fitness coach, I have seen their results applied in real-time. <\/p>\n My overriding takeaway is that fitness is less like an on-off button and more like a dimmer switch. You don\u2019t hit 610 minutes of exercise in a week and suddenly enjoy a raft of heart health benefits \u2013 rather, any positive change to your activity levels or exercise schedule tends to nudge your health in the right direction.<\/p>\n As Professor Aiden Doherty<\/a>, professor of biomedical informatics at the University of Oxford, writes: \u201cThe data in the paper very clearly support current World Health Organisation physical activity guidelines\u2026 People who are able to do more activity have even lower risk, so every move counts.\u201d<\/p>\n Most of us are not athletes or billionaires chasing immortality. We cannot live an \u201coptimal\u201d life, nor do we want to. But we can give ourselves every opportunity to live a long, happy, healthy life without 90-minute daily workouts. Here is how to do just that. <\/p>\n Read more: I specialise in coaching people aged 40-plus \u2013 do these six things for immediate results<\/a><\/p>\n How to improve your health in two minutes <\/p>\n \u201cThe NHS physical activity guidelines are built on a solid evidence base showing that this level of activity significantly reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers and premature death,\u201d says Jack McNamara, a clinical exercise physiologist, strength coach and course leader at the University of East London<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cThe problem isn’t that the guidelines are insufficient; it’s that around a third of UK adults don\u2019t meet them.\u201d<\/p>\n He suggests exercise snacks as a possible solution and an alternative to inflexible fitness plans. \u201cExercise snacks are brief [one- to five-minute] bursts of vigorous activity scattered throughout the day,\u201d he explains. The aim is to weave a few into each day at opportune moments. <\/p>\n \u201cA recent meta-analysis<\/a> found that even very short bouts, such as climbing a few flights of stairs vigorously a few times daily, can meaningfully improve cardiorespiratory fitness in previously inactive people.\u201d<\/p>\n You can also build in bite-sized strength training sessions and mobility exercises. Our feature on exercise snacking<\/a> has some ideas to help you get started. <\/p>\n Read more: These expert-approved five-minute daily workouts can improve flexibility, strength and longevity<\/a><\/p>\n How to improve your health in five minutes <\/p>\n \u201cAbout 98 per cent of the world has the capacity to walk, so there is a huge amount of untapped potential there for benefitting your health,\u201d says physiotherapist and Walk: Your Life Depends On It<\/a> author Dr Milica McDowell. <\/p>\n She and co-author Dr Courtney Conley recommend \u201cmicro-walks\u201d to gently bump up your daily activity levels. <\/p>\n This is a five-minute (roughly 500 steps) stroll you can slot into your day when you have a free moment. Try identifying short routes near places you spend a lot of time, such as your home or office, then squeeze them in where possible. <\/p>\n Read more: Walking experts reveal the number of daily steps you need to boost health \u2013 and it\u2019s not 10,000<\/a><\/p>\n How to improve heart health in 15 minutes <\/p>\n \u201cWhen you go walking, it regulates the glucose in your bloodstream and helps with insulin sensitivity,\u201d says Dr Conley. \u201cThat’s why one of the best times to go for a walk is right after you eat.\u201d<\/p>\n This can lessen stress on your pancreas, reducing your risk of diabetes in the long run. A small study published in the International Journal of General Medicine <\/a>also suggests that taking a 15-minute walk after each meal could be more effective for weight loss than the same amount of walking done elsewhere in the day. <\/p>\n Read more: Expert says doing this for 15 minutes after meals can protect your health for decades to come<\/a><\/p>\n How to improve your health in 20 minutes <\/p>\n Strength training is one of the best things you can do for your health, forging a more robust body that can stand up to the rigours of daily life. But most people, and beginners in particular, don\u2019t need to spend an hour in the gym to see impressive results. <\/p>\n Experienced personal trainer Danny Matranga says a 20-minute workout comprising just four exercises<\/a> can hit your whole body. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen you’re a novice, you can go into the gym and do a pushing exercise and a pulling exercise for your upper body, something like a squat<\/a> for the front of your legs, something like a deadlift<\/a> for the back of your legs, and then you can walk away after four exercises having trained every single muscle in your body,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n You can find an example workout in the video below. <\/p>\n Read more: There\u2019s a new golden rule for strength training \u2013 expert coaches reveal everything you need to know<\/a><\/p>\n How to improve your health in 30 minutes <\/p>\n Upping the intensity of your daily movement is one of the most straightforward levers you can pull to enjoy greater health benefits. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen it comes to light activity, some movement is better than none,\u201d says Professor Emmanual Stamatakis, a leading physical activity researcher at the University of Sydney. \u201cMoving around instead of sitting down is good for metabolic disease and energy expenditure.<\/p>\n \u201cBut when it comes to functional capacity, and cardiorespiratory fitness in particular, you need intensity to challenge your physiology. Vigorous-intensity activity [anything that gets you out of breath, to the point you can only do it for a few minutes at a time] will force the heart to strengthen its muscle, improving its capacity to pump blood. Very few of these things happen with light intensity activity, even in large amounts.\u201d <\/p>\n Intensity is relative. A fit person will need a more challenging workout than a less fit person to achieve vigorous-intensity. For less fit people, vigorous-intensity could be achieved by making your daily steps more difficult. <\/p>\n This might mean tackling a steep hill or set of stairs, upping the pace (a cadence of 130-plus steps per minute<\/a> is often associated with vigorous-intensity exercise) or rucking<\/a> \u2013 carrying a backpack with some weight in it. <\/p>\n Japanese Walking<\/a> is an easy way to try this. Simply walk for three minutes at a brisk pace, immediately followed by three minutes of walking at a relaxed place. Repeat this sequence for a total of five rounds, and you are done in 30 minutes. <\/p>\n A more experienced exerciser could apply this format to running \u2013 run at a challenging pace for three minutes, then a relaxed pace for three minutes, for five rounds.<\/p>\n Read more: Scientists share six easy ways to increase the health benefits of your daily walk<\/a><\/p>\n How to improve your health in 45 minutes<\/p>\n If you can set aside 45 minutes to exercise, twice per week, you have enough time to work on most facets of fitness. <\/p>\n Start the session with a warm-up, followed by some mobility moves<\/a>, then complete a short strength training workout as prescribed above. Finish with some form of running or exercise machine for 10-15 minutes. <\/p>\n This could take many forms. For example, spending 15 steady minutes on a rowing machine, or completing 10 rounds of 30 seconds fast into 30 seconds slow on an exercise bike.<\/p>\n By the end of this 45-minute workout, you will have challenged your heart, lungs, muscles and mobility, improving in all areas. <\/p>\n Read more: The easiest way to strengthen your entire body, according to this expert coach<\/a><\/p>\n The best time-effective routine for better health <\/p>\n The unavoidable truth from studies I\u2019ve read and experts I\u2019ve interviewed is that, when it comes to movement, more tends to be better. This is why I would always encourage people to work towards exceeding the World Health Organisation\u2019s 150 minutes per week minimum prescription. <\/p>\n It also partly explains the results of the recent study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. But the 10 hours per week figure many headlines hone in on is linked to \u201coptimal\u201d results for heart health. <\/p>\n For the average person, \u201coptimal\u201d is not the aim. We simply need to do enough to support our lives. I like the three-step fitness plan<\/a> below, inspired by strength coach Darren Ellis, for simplifying things. <\/p>\n Step one<\/p>\n Walk 7,000 steps a day<\/p>\n Step two<\/p>\n Two full-body strength training sessions per week<\/p>\n Step three<\/p>\n Do an aerobic activity (such as running, cycling, swimming, walking or many other sports) that gets you out of breath twice per week<\/p>\n This plan also comes with a caveat: just do what you can. Life is invariably busy and unpredictable. Despite what some influencers say, we don\u2019t all have the same 24 hours in a day. But if you can squeeze a bit more movement into each day using the techniques above, your mind and body will benefit. <\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/900x600-(1).png\")
An optimal exercise routine is not the aim for most people, nor should it be. (Getty\/iStock)<\/p>\n![\"Exercise](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/These-three-expert-approved-stretches-can-help-combat-tight-hips-while-working-at-a-desk.jpeg\")
Exercise snacking is one of the best known methods for fitting impactful amounts of movement into a busy schedule (Getty\/iStock)<\/p>\n![\"Identifying](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0c838552be3ecab5483527c19f0176dfY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzYzOTA3MjU3-2.82411937.jpg\")
Identifying a five-minute walking route you can do near your office is a simple way to fit more movement into your day (PA)<\/p>\nShort strength training workouts offer impressive bang for your buck, improving many areas of health and fitness (Getty\/iStock)<\/p>\n
![\"Increasing](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b4e5b604-f749-4d3d-ad85-ad8ad30465b0.jpg\")
Increasing the intensity of your walk by upping the pace or tackling a hill can deliver greater health benefits (PA)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/23103342-c3975e1a-6b53-4d7a-bf55-0c4021a97fdb.jpg\")
A man and a woman exercising in the gym (Alamy\/PA)<\/p>\n