Short workouts can save your life, research says

(WJBK) - Can't get to the gym for a lengthy, heavy-duty workout? New research that says you don't have to! 

New research out of Duke University suggests that short bursts of moderate activity, like a 10 minute walk, can save your life. 

The study looked at about five thousand people, aged 40 and older, and found you can cut your risk of dying young by getting in several short bursts of exercise thoughtout the day. In other words, a brisk 10 minute walk several times a day, adding up to an hour, cuts your risk of dying young as well as one big long exercise session. 

Beaumont exercise phsiologist Barry Franklin has long been preaching about the positive effect of mini workouts.  

"If you can pick your walking pace up from the average 2 mph to 3 mph, there's a huge decrease in mortality or death rates," he says. 

And if you need a little motivation, think about this -- when you move your muscles, there's an after glow. 

"Just getting up and moving very, very slowly at least doubles your metabolic rate," he says. "Just getting up and doing hardly anything, you double your energy expenditure. If you do that frequently throughout the day, energy expenditure when you stop movement doesn't go back down to normal; it stays elevated for a period of time. So, people who really want to lose weight, they get up and they do frequent bouts often." 

The goal is do to those small bursts of exercise thruout the day. That means if youre going for a walk, make it brisk. You don't have to break a big sweat, but you should be a little brethless. And if it's 10 minutes, try and do three of those walks.