Reducing Early Mortality Risk by Mowing the Lawn for Just 11 Minutes Daily

Cutting the grass doesn’t merely leave your garden in tip-top condition – it could just save your life.

According to researchers, inactive individuals who spend 11 minutes a day mowing the lawn could avoid one in ten early deaths.

Engaging in short bouts of moderate exercise, such as brisk walking, dancing, water aerobics, or gardening, can significantly reduce the risk of early death, heart disease, and cancer.

A study conducted by the University of Cambridge suggests that engaging in 75 minutes of moderate exercise per week, which is only half the recommended amount, can significantly reduce these risks compared to no exercise at all.

The researchers examined 196 research articles involving over 30 million adults to determine the health benefits of exercise.

The risk of early death, cardiovascular disease, and cancer decreased as the amount of exercise increased.

The study estimates that doing a minimum of 75 minutes of moderate exercise per week can prevent one in ten early deaths for inactive individuals.

Engaging in up to 2.5 hours of exercise per week further reduces the risk of early death.

However, exceeding 2.5 hours per week only provides small additional benefits, and there is little extra benefit from exercising for more than five hours per week.

The NHS recommends at least 2.5 hours of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous activity every week.

Soren Brage, one of the study’s authors, stated that if someone finds the idea of 2.5 hours of activity per week daunting, the study’s findings should be seen as good news.