How Much Should I Exercise? 3 Easy Activities Only Take 10 Minutes a Week

Scientists have found the “very low” level of activity needed to significantly reduce your risk of death. And, they were even kind enough to pinpoint the specific activities we can do. We broke down these easy and healthy activities in the video above, so we can all live a little longer without having to, you know, actually work for it.

These low-effort activities are great news for anyone who finds it hard to get motivated or, frankly, anyone who’s a little bit lazy. Research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2018 shows that as little as ten minutes of leisurely exercise a week can reduce your risk of death by 18 percent. The three exercises listed in the study are walking, gardening, and dancing.

The study authors came to their conclusions after comparing the health of over 88,000 people, focusing on their daily routines, exercise habits, BMI, alcohol intake, and other personal behavior. They found that the people who had minimal amounts of leisurely exercise worked into their weeks had a significant decrease in their likelihood of death. As you can probably guess, this stat only increases as the amount of activity increases. For those who are looking to aim higher than the bare minimum, 150 minutes of leisure activity a week was shown to decrease the likelihood of death by 31 percent.

Once again, this is leisurely exercise. We aren’t talking about spending 30 minutes a day at the gym. That’s 30 minutes of gardening. Of dancing. Of walking, for crying out loud. Maybe I’m overestimating our abilities, but I think we can do this, guys.