Ananda Body LLC Pilates Studio

It’s not just how much you move. It’s how HARD you move.

A new study in the European Heart Journal looked at ~100,000 people (over 50% women) and asked a simple question:

👉 If two people move the same amount… does intensity matter?

Answer: YES. A lot.

People who did more vigorous activity (the kind that makes you out of breath):

✨ ↓ 63% lower risk of dementia
✨ ↓ 60% lower risk of type 2 diabetes
✨ ↓ 46% lower risk of death

And here’s the kicker:

👉 You don’t need hours.

Even 15–20 minutes PER WEEK of higher-intensity effort made a difference

Getting breathless. Basically.

Jiehua Wei, Minxue Shen, Shenxin Li, Yi Xiao, Dan Luo, Gerson Ferrari, D**g Hoon Lee, Leandro F M Rezende, Jason M R Gill, Matthew N Ahmadi, Emmanuel Stamatakis, Xiang Chen, Volume vs intensity of physical activity and risk of cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular chronic diseases, European Heart Journal, 2026;, ehag168, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehag168