One Hour or Three Hours a Week?

It’s a tough one, but here’s the data: one hour of vigorous aerobic activity a week will lower your mortality risk 15 percent, and three hours a week can drop it 27 percent. That, according to a new study published in The British Journal of Sports Medicine, and reported in the New York Times. The study used National Health Interview Survey data, which followed 416,420 adults recruited between 1997 and 2014. But wait, it’s even more complicated: the researchers found that study participants who did strength training just once or twice a week reduced their mortality risk 40 percent.