Ideal Amount of Exercise for Longevity

People who got some exercise, but not enough to meet the physical activity recommendations were still 20 percent less likely to die over a 14-year period than those who did not do any physical activity. (The recommendations say to do 150 minutes of moderate activity per week or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week.)

People who engaged in the recommended level of physical activity saw even more benefit: They were 31 percent less likely to die during the study period, compared with those who did not engage in any physical activity. [7 Common Exercise Errors and How to Fix Them]

But doing a lot more activity than that did not provide much added benefit. The maximum benefit was seen among people who engaged in three to five times the recommended levels of physical activity; they were 39 percent less likely to die over the study period than people who did no exercise. Engaging in more exercise than this was not linked with any additional benefit.

Who recommendation is 150 minutes moderate or 75 minutes vigorous a week. Three to five times this amount was linked with a 39% reduction in mortality; therefore, 7.5 hours moderate exercise or 3.75 hours vigorous for best results.