Life expectancy: Doing THIS for ten minutes a day could lower your risk of death

A study has found that working out for just ten minutes daily could reduce risk of dying.

Research by the University at Buffalo discovered that short bouts of exercise everyday could fight frailty, which in turn may protect people from death and other diseases.

Bruce R Troen, senior study author from the University at Buffalo, said: “We know that being frail or being at risk for becoming frail puts people at increased risk of dying and comorbidity.

“These results show that it’s possible that high-intensity interval training can help enhance quality of life and capacity to be healthy.”

In the study, they found high-intensity interval training – commonly known as HIIT – could reverse frailty.

HIIT is quick intense bursts of exercise, and has become a popular gym workout.

The discovery was made in mice – who were the equivalent of 65-year-old humans – however the study authors believe the effect could be the same for us too.

They found dramatic improvements in strength and physical performance.

This included changes in grip strength, treadmill endurance, and gait speed. 

Additionally, the mice showed a greater muscle mass and an increase in total mitochondria, the energy factories of cells.

Troen said: “Increased mitochondrial biomass allows you to utilise oxygen more efficiency.

“With HIIT, we saw both mitochondrial increase and an improvement in muscle quality and fibre size in these mice.”

The ten minutes of exercise involved a three-minute warm-up, three intervals of one minute of high intensity, one minute at lower intensity, and a final minute of higher intensity on an inclined treadmill.

It’s thought HIIT is so beneficial because of the stress it places on the body.

Troen said: “Exercise stresses the system and the body can respond beneficially.

“We believe that the intensity of individualised HIIT provides a more significant but manageable stress so the body responds more robustly to these short, vigorous periods of exercise. In other words, you get more bang for your buck.”