This 7-minute routine can give you an extra year of life, according to two new studies

If you don't take too much care of yourself, with the slightest adjustment in sleep, diet and daily exercise, you can gain 1 year of life... 9 nine, if you promote yourself.

This 7-minute routine can add 1 year to your life, according to two new studies

If you don't take too much care of yourself and adjust your sleep, diet and daily exercise a little, you can live 1 year... if you motivate yourself 99

Two studies have determined how you will change in 2026. Of course if you want to live a long and healthy life, you have to exercise, sleep well, and eat right.We know, but let's be real: what percentage of the population strictly follows these three pillars?We're not perfect, and even those who watch their diet and exercise daily can neglect their sleep.Reading about everything we have to change to get the health we seek can be scary.

However, two studies conducted using data from the UK Biobank may have the advice you're looking for to get you motivated in 2026. The first, published in the scientific journal The Lancet, analyzes the benefits that a small increase in physical activity can bring, and the second, published in eCLINICALMEDICINE, the years of life we could gain with minimal fundamental changes to these three pills. Small and affordable adjustments with real rewards, that's what the majority of the population needs to implement small changes thathopefully little by little will become the "perfect" lifestyles they tell us so much about.much.So pay attention, because these are the available minimum requirements you've been looking for.

walk a little

In the first study, researchers analyzed data collected over an average of eight years from seven cohorts in Norway, Sweden and the United States, as well as from 135,000 adults in the UK Biobank.Also, from all their physical activity data on the subject, the scientists focused on exercise or standing time (measured by wristbands and smartwatches).Experts estimate that the mortality rate can be reduced or reduced by sitting or lying down for a short period of time.

Now see that we have classified the population based on the level of physical activity and we have divided it into percentages.The 20% who do a lot of physical activity don't need major changes, but what about the other 80% of humanity?To give you an idea, 80% cannot do, on average, 17 minutes of physical activity a day, that is: walking at about 5 km per hour.Well, according to the study, if this group adds 5 minutes of physical activity a day, they can reduce their life expectancy in the next year by 10%.It's an insignificant percentage.

What happens to the least active 20% of the population?The group that did not perform 2 minutes of moderate exercise per day could reduce their mortality rate by 6% if they added 5 minutes per day to their routine.For young people, whose mortality rate will be quite low in the coming years, this rate may seem modest, but it is noticeable among at-risk groups such as the elderly or the chronically ill.Five minutes a day is an affordable change for everyone, and now its benefits are more obvious.And if we focus on sedentary behavior, they estimate that if we reduce it by 30 minutes a day, 80% of the population (who sit 10 hours a day) can reduce their mortality rate by 7%, and the 20% who spend more than 12 hours a day sitting by 3%.

Three small changes

The second article, published in eClinicalMedicine, analyzed nearly 60,000 people enrolled from the UK Biobank cohort between 2006 and 2010 and followed up for an average of eight years.According to the state of their health, the researchers estimate the life expectancy of the subjects and how many years they can maintain a good quality of life.Thus it is concluded that, if we compare ourselves with the group of the population that practices the least self-care, we can gain nine years of life, if our forty exercise a few minutes a day, we keep a healthy diet and sleep 7 or 8 hours a day.And although it sounds good to win 9 years, we are faced with the usual problem: we want to change everything and radically.It's not easy to find 40 minutes to exercise every day, especially if you can't get enough sleep.

Fortunately, the studio did not stop there, and asked itself how changing just one of these pillars would affect us.By increasing our sleep pattern by 25 minutes a day, we can live 1 year.The benefits are more modest, but they exist and, of course, are cheaper.Can we be more effective?even if we only add 5 instead of sleep, we can reap the benefits of this extra year of life by eating half a serving of vegetables a day and doing 2 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day.

And now let's add it, because if we get a test, we can reach that life year by investing another 25 minutes a day (to sleep), or by 7 minutes a day (if we combine small changes in three areas).And don't worry, because we have the numbers for you: you will win.You would have to spend 7 minutes a day for more than two hundred years to add one year, so if you plan to live less than 200, you will gain more time if you spend 7 minutes a day taking care of yourself.And if that wasn't enough, the time you gain will, on average, have a higher quality of life than if you hadn't.So, if you didn't have a 2026 goal, you couldn't get one cheaper than this one.Be brave because if you can save it, you will continue to improve your health in a balanced way and hopefully this will only be the first step.

Don't be known:

- Furthermore, as the article itself suggests, we should not only think in terms of "years gained", but also in terms of quality of life.The last years of our lives will not be the same if we arrive with good general health than if, due to our bad lifestyle habits, we have bought tickets to increase all kinds of diseases.

- Deaths that can be prevented by small changes in physical activity and sedentary time: a meta-analysis of data from individual participants in prospective cohort studies.The Lancet, 13 January 2026, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(25)02219-6, www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)02219-6/fulltext

- When combined, small improvements in sleep, physical activity and diet are linked to a longer life.eClinicalMedicine, 2026, doi: 10.1016/S2589-5370(25)00676-5, www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(25)00676-5/fulltext

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