Research finds short bursts of vigorous movement are also beneficial for longevity

When it comes to longevity, lots of research has shown how much you move matters. But a new study finds your pace may also be key — even if you fall far short of daily step goals.

LEILA FADEL, HOST: Most of us know we should move more for better health. But in recent years, researchers have started to unravel how the different ways we move throughout the day - sitting versus standing, shuffling along versus walking briskly - can influence longevity. As NPR's Maria Godoy reports, that's all thanks to the revolution in wearable activity trackers. MARIA GODOY, BYLINE: About a decade and a half ago, activity trackers became smaller, cheaper and more reliable. That made it possible to use them in large-scale studies that followed people over time, says John Mitchell. He's a researcher at University College London. JOHN MITCHELL: Now we can ask and really understand how the whole 24-hour day interacts to affect our risk of disease downstream. GODOY: He says these kinds of studies have repeatedly found evidence that while sitting less and moving more at any intensity is beneficial... MITCHELL: You get the biggest bang for a buck from doing things like more vigorous activities. GODOY: Even in short bursts. For example, one recent study from Mitchell and his colleagues found that replacing sedentary time with as little as three to five minutes of moderate to vigorous activity each day was linked to a reduced risk of developing several cancers. MITCHELL: Moderate to vigorous activity doesn't need to be scary. It can be playing with the kids. It can be walking upstairs, particularly if you're doing it more briskly. GODOY: His findings also linked other types of movement, like standing or taking a gentle stroll, to a lower cancer risk. But you had to do a lot more of it to see a benefit. Other studies have linked short bursts of vigorous movement to a lower risk of outcomes like cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and dying prematurely. And a new study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine suggests that for the least active people, intensity also matters when taking daily steps. MATTHEW AHMADI: Everyone knows the more steps you do, the healthier you typically are. GODOY: Matthew Ahmadi is a researcher at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He and his colleagues wanted to know if you can still get meaningful health benefits if you don't hit the 7,000-or-more steps a day that studies have linked to better health. AHMADI: And we found you actually can if you're able to increase your walking pace intermittently throughout the day. GODOY: The researchers analyzed data from nearly 65,000 people who wore activity trackers for seven consecutive days, then followed up eight years later. They found that even if people only hit around 5,000 steps a day, but they kept a brisk pace in short bursts... MITCHELL: They actually also had equivalent health benefits to their counterparts who were able to hit those high step targets. GODOY: Both groups had a lower risk of early death. Exercise researcher Loretta DiPietro of George Washington University says the growing evidence from activity trackers supports the public health mantra that all movement counts. LORETTA DIPIETRO: We've been telling people forever, take the stairs. Walk a little bit farther. Park your car farther away if you're able to walk. And now we know if you do it a little faster, it's even better for you. GODOY: But if you can't pick up the pace, that's OK, too. Matthew Ahmadi and his colleagues found that slower walkers also saw benefits. They just had to walk more. His message? AHMADI: There's more than one way to improve your overall health. It's all about finding what works for you that you can fit in your everyday life. GODOY: Ultimately, researchers say the goal of parsing all this data is to offer people a menu of ways to fit movement into their life for better health. Maria Godoy, NPR News. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HARDER, BETTER, FASTER, STRONGER") DAFT PUNK: (Singing) Work it harder. Make it better. Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

LEILA FADEL, HOST: Most of us know we should move more for better health. But in recent years, researchers have started to unravel how the different ways we move throughout the day - sitting versus standing, shuffling along versus walking briskly - can influence longevity. As NPR's Maria Godoy reports, that's all thanks to the revolution in wearable activity trackers. MARIA GODOY, BYLINE: About a decade and a half ago, activity trackers became smaller, cheaper and more reliable. That made it possible to use them in large-scale studies that followed people over time, says John Mitchell. He's a researcher at University College London. JOHN MITCHELL: Now we can ask and really understand how the whole 24-hour day interacts to affect our risk of disease downstream. GODOY: He says these kinds of studies have repeatedly found evidence that while sitting less and moving more at any intensity is beneficial... MITCHELL: You get the biggest bang for a buck from doing things like more vigorous activities. GODOY: Even in short bursts. For example, one recent study from Mitchell and his colleagues found that replacing sedentary time with as little as three to five minutes of moderate to vigorous activity each day was linked to a reduced risk of developing several cancers. MITCHELL: Moderate to vigorous activity doesn't need to be scary. It can be playing with the kids. It can be walking upstairs, particularly if you're doing it more briskly. GODOY: His findings also linked other types of movement, like standing or taking a gentle stroll, to a lower cancer risk. But you had to do a lot more of it to see a benefit. Other studies have linked short bursts of vigorous movement to a lower risk of outcomes like cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and dying prematurely. And a new study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine suggests that for the least active people, intensity also matters when taking daily steps. MATTHEW AHMADI: Everyone knows the more steps you do, the healthier you typically are. GODOY: Matthew Ahmadi is a researcher at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He and his colleagues wanted to know if you can still get meaningful health benefits if you don't hit the 7,000-or-more steps a day that studies have linked to better health. AHMADI: And we found you actually can if you're able to increase your walking pace intermittently throughout the day. GODOY: The researchers analyzed data from nearly 65,000 people who wore activity trackers for seven consecutive days, then followed up eight years later. They found that even if people only hit around 5,000 steps a day, but they kept a brisk pace in short bursts... MITCHELL: They actually also had equivalent health benefits to their counterparts who were able to hit those high step targets. GODOY: Both groups had a lower risk of early death. Exercise researcher Loretta DiPietro of George Washington University says the growing evidence from activity trackers supports the public health mantra that all movement counts. LORETTA DIPIETRO: We've been telling people forever, take the stairs. Walk a little bit farther. Park your car farther away if you're able to walk. And now we know if you do it a little faster, it's even better for you. GODOY: But if you can't pick up the pace, that's OK, too. Matthew Ahmadi and his colleagues found that slower walkers also saw benefits. They just had to walk more. His message? AHMADI: There's more than one way to improve your overall health. It's all about finding what works for you that you can fit in your everyday life. GODOY: Ultimately, researchers say the goal of parsing all this data is to offer people a menu of ways to fit movement into their life for better health. Maria Godoy, NPR News. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HARDER, BETTER, FASTER, STRONGER") DAFT PUNK: (Singing) Work it harder. Make it better. Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Most of us know we should move more for better health. But in recent years, researchers have started to unravel how the different ways we move throughout the day - sitting versus standing, shuffling along versus walking briskly - can influence longevity. As NPR's Maria Godoy reports, that's all thanks to the revolution in wearable activity trackers. MARIA GODOY, BYLINE: About a decade and a half ago, activity trackers became smaller, cheaper and more reliable. That made it possible to use them in large-scale studies that followed people over time, says John Mitchell. He's a researcher at University College London. JOHN MITCHELL: Now we can ask and really understand how the whole 24-hour day interacts to affect our risk of disease downstream. GODOY: He says these kinds of studies have repeatedly found evidence that while sitting less and moving more at any intensity is beneficial... MITCHELL: You get the biggest bang for a buck from doing things like more vigorous activities. GODOY: Even in short bursts. For example, one recent study from Mitchell and his colleagues found that replacing sedentary time with as little as three to five minutes of moderate to vigorous activity each day was linked to a reduced risk of developing several cancers. MITCHELL: Moderate to vigorous activity doesn't need to be scary. It can be playing with the kids. It can be walking upstairs, particularly if you're doing it more briskly. GODOY: His findings also linked other types of movement, like standing or taking a gentle stroll, to a lower cancer risk. But you had to do a lot more of it to see a benefit. Other studies have linked short bursts of vigorous movement to a lower risk of outcomes like cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and dying prematurely. And a new study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine suggests that for the least active people, intensity also matters when taking daily steps. MATTHEW AHMADI: Everyone knows the more steps you do, the healthier you typically are. GODOY: Matthew Ahmadi is a researcher at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He and his colleagues wanted to know if you can still get meaningful health benefits if you don't hit the 7,000-or-more steps a day that studies have linked to better health. AHMADI: And we found you actually can if you're able to increase your walking pace intermittently throughout the day. GODOY: The researchers analyzed data from nearly 65,000 people who wore activity trackers for seven consecutive days, then followed up eight years later. They found that even if people only hit around 5,000 steps a day, but they kept a brisk pace in short bursts... MITCHELL: They actually also had equivalent health benefits to their counterparts who were able to hit those high step targets. GODOY: Both groups had a lower risk of early death. Exercise researcher Loretta DiPietro of George Washington University says the growing evidence from activity trackers supports the public health mantra that all movement counts. LORETTA DIPIETRO: We've been telling people forever, take the stairs. Walk a little bit farther. Park your car farther away if you're able to walk. And now we know if you do it a little faster, it's even better for you. GODOY: But if you can't pick up the pace, that's OK, too. Matthew Ahmadi and his colleagues found that slower walkers also saw benefits. They just had to walk more. His message? AHMADI: There's more than one way to improve your overall health. It's all about finding what works for you that you can fit in your everyday life. GODOY: Ultimately, researchers say the goal of parsing all this data is to offer people a menu of ways to fit movement into their life for better health. Maria Godoy, NPR News. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HARDER, BETTER, FASTER, STRONGER") DAFT PUNK: (Singing) Work it harder. Make it better. Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Most of us know we should move more for better health. But in recent years, researchers have started to unravel how the different ways we move throughout the day - sitting versus standing, shuffling along versus walking briskly - can influence longevity. As NPR's Maria Godoy reports, that's all thanks to the revolution in wearable activity trackers. MARIA GODOY, BYLINE: About a decade and a half ago, activity trackers became smaller, cheaper and more reliable. That made it possible to use them in large-scale studies that followed people over time, says John Mitchell. He's a researcher at University College London. JOHN MITCHELL: Now we can ask and really understand how the whole 24-hour day interacts to affect our risk of disease downstream. GODOY: He says these kinds of studies have repeatedly found evidence that while sitting less and moving more at any intensity is beneficial... MITCHELL: You get the biggest bang for a buck from doing things like more vigorous activities. GODOY: Even in short bursts. For example, one recent study from Mitchell and his colleagues found that replacing sedentary time with as little as three to five minutes of moderate to vigorous activity each day was linked to a reduced risk of developing several cancers. MITCHELL: Moderate to vigorous activity doesn't need to be scary. It can be playing with the kids. It can be walking upstairs, particularly if you're doing it more briskly. GODOY: His findings also linked other types of movement, like standing or taking a gentle stroll, to a lower cancer risk. But you had to do a lot more of it to see a benefit. Other studies have linked short bursts of vigorous movement to a lower risk of outcomes like cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and dying prematurely. And a new study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine suggests that for the least active people, intensity also matters when taking daily steps. MATTHEW AHMADI: Everyone knows the more steps you do, the healthier you typically are. GODOY: Matthew Ahmadi is a researcher at Mo