4 easy exercises to sleep better 3:34
(CNN) --
Could you find 10 minutes in your day to increase your physical activity?
It could save lives, according to a new study.
More than 110,000 deaths in the US each year could be prevented if adults age 40 and older added 10 minutes of daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity to their normal routines, according to the study published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine.
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An increase of 20 or 30 minutes could save even more lives, the study noted.
"We know that exercise is good for us. This study provides further evidence of the benefits at the population level: If all adults in the United States (over 40 years of age) exercised a little more each day, a large number of deaths could be prevented each year," Pedro Saint-Maurice, the study's first author and an epidemiologist at the National Cancer Institute, said by email.
The study used acceleration data that the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey recorded from participants ages 6 and older between 2003 and 2006. The researchers then looked at the activity levels of nearly 5,000 participants ages 40 to 85 and tracked the mortality rates until the end of 2015.
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The method used to conduct the study was rigorous, said Peter Katzmarzyk, professor of pediatric obesity and associate executive director of population sciences and public health at Louisiana State University's Pennington Biomedical Research Center.
Although the number of deaths prevented is an estimate, "it's a valid approach, as it would be nearly impossible to do a real test in humans to manipulate people's activity levels and look at long-term outcomes such as deaths," he said. Katzmarzyk, who was not involved in the study, in an email.
"We have previously reported that even a little bit of exercise can result in health benefits," Saint-Maurice said.
"This study does not focus on the benefits to individuals, but rather at the population level. We can make our nation healthier by encouraging everyone to add an extra 10 minutes of activity or more each day."
Important Note:
If you experience pain while exercising, stop immediately.
Check with your doctor before beginning any new exercise program.
Exercise at home or at the gym?
Know the advantages 0:56
How to get your 10 more minutes
Daily exercise isn't just for "gym rats," said Dana Santas, a CNN fitness contributor and mind-body coach for professional athletes.
"Getting ten minutes of exercise every day is a lot easier than people think. Consider how quickly ten minutes go by when you mindlessly browse social media or watch your favorite TV show," Santas said in an email. .
"It's not a huge time investment, but it can provide great health benefits."
Walking outside or on a treadmill is one of the best and easiest ways to incorporate regular physical activity into your life, Santas said.
Yoga, for both practitioners and non-practitioners, is another great option, with the added benefits of stress relief and easy online access to all levels of instruction, Santas said.
Another at-home activity with a low cost of entry: bodyweight exercises.
Without equipment, it's easy to do four rounds of three-minute bodyweight exercises, and you get an extra two minutes of benefit.
The key is to find a sequence of movements that moderately works the entire body, balancing upper body strength, lower body strength, and cardio, such as 10-25 push-ups, 25-40 squats and a minute of jogging in place, Santas said.
And when in doubt, you can always dance it.
Putting on some of your favorite songs and moving alone in your kitchen or gathering with family and friends in the living room is an exercise that feels more like a celebration.
It only takes three or four songs to reach your 10-minute goal, Santas said, but no one will blame you if you can't stop there.
Exercise doesn't have to be strenuous to be effective, and upping your routine a bit can have a big impact, experts said.
