Minutes add up in daily exercise Each daily minute of exercise also lowered the risk of obesity in women by five per cent and in men by two per cent, researchers reported in the American Journal of Health Promotion. They obtained their results by studying data from accelerometers, which measured the daily activity of 2,202 women and 2,309 men in America for seven days between 2003 and 2006. Men were more physically active than women, but when bouts of exercise lasting at least eight minutes were counted up, neither came close to the weekly recommended exercise level of 150 minutes per week. When shorter bursts of a minute or more were included, however, men averaged 246 minutes per week and women 144 minutes. Jessie Fan, professor of family and consumer studies at the University of Utah, said: "What we learned is that for preventing weight gain, the intensity of the activity matters more than duration. "Knowing that even short bouts of "brisk" activity can add up to a positive effect is an encouraging message for promoting better health."