1 Minute Bursts of Daily Activity Slash Your Risk of Death - Why?
Nicolas Verhoeven, PhD
I analyze medical studies to make them understandable & applicable to you
Main Points
Very short bursts of hard daily movement create a sharp, temporary rise in arterial shear stress, which deforms endothelial cells and rapidly activates eNOS, boosting nitric oxide to dilate vessels and lower pressure; because the force is shear (not just static pressure) and intermittent (allowing recovery), these tiny “training signals” are protective rather than damaging, helping explain why minutes of vigorous activity might translate into meaningful reductions in cardiovascular risk and overall mortality - although, surely there are other reasons, as well!
A complete analysis on VILPAs and how to use them in daily living, along with access to a private podcast, live sessions with me, a library of articles and videos, and much more as a Physionic Insider - join here.
Most of us think “exercise” means 30–60 minutes in the gym. But a growing body of work on VILPA—vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity—suggests even very short bursts of effort (think: one minute repeated a few times per day like holding all the groceries, walking briskly, and so on) track with lower all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease [452]. That raises a big question: how can such a tiny dose move the needle?
The Missing Link: Shear Stress on Blood Vessels
When you suddenly move with intent—climbing stairs fast, carrying groceries briskly, doing 20–60 seconds of hard cycling—blood flow surges. Because blood has viscosity, it rubs along the inner surface of your arteries, producing shear stress on the endothelial cells that line those vessels.
Endothelial cells aren’t passive pipe lining; they’re smart (as far as cells can ‘think’), responsive tissue. A sharp uptick in shear stress (often on the order of four- to five-fold during hard effort) temporarily deforms these cells. That deformation is a signal, telling the endothelium to switch on protective programs.
What the Endothelium Does Next
One of the first responses is the activation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). eNOS makes nitric oxide (NO)—a fast, short-lived gas that diffuses to the smooth muscle wrapped around your arteries and tells it to relax. The result: your blood vessels dilate, blood pressure drops, and perfusion improves. In other words, a quick “stress” at the cell surface kicks off an anti-stress cascade that leaves the system more flexible and resilient.
A complete analysis on VILPAs and how to use them in daily living, along with access to a private podcast, live sessions with me, a library of articles and videos, and much more as a Physionic Insider - join here.
“Stress Is Bad”… So Why Isn’t This?
Since we’re talking about stress applied to the arteries, wouldn’t high blood pressure/hypertension fit, too? Two reasons why not:
Type of force. Hypertension mostly loads the vessel wall with constant circumferential strain (pressure pushing outward), which can be damaging if chronically elevated. By contrast, VILPA-style effort drives pulsatile shear along the wall—exactly the cue endothelial cells evolved to read as “increase NO, enlarge the pipes.”
Timing (intermittency). The endothelium needs time to reset. Brief, intermittent spikes in shear let cells respond, adapt, and then return to baseline. A continuous high load (like untreated hypertension) becomes maladaptive—cells can’t recover, and the signal turns from training to wear-and-tear.
Why Even a Few Minutes Help
Because the NO pathway is fast, the benefit begins within minutes of a brisk effort. Over days and weeks of repeating these short bursts, you accumulate many episodes of endothelial activation. That repeated “practice” keeps vessels responsive, reduces resting pressure, and supports better cardio-metabolic function—plausible pathways by which tiny daily doses link to lower disease and mortality risk.
Main Points
Very short bursts of hard daily movement create a sharp, temporary rise in arterial shear stress, which deforms endothelial cells and rapidly activates eNOS, boosting nitric oxide to dilate vessels and lower pressure; because the force is shear (not just static pressure) and intermittent (allowing recovery), these tiny “training signals” are protective rather than damaging, helping explain why minutes of vigorous activity might translate into meaningful reductions in cardiovascular risk and overall mortality - although, surely there are other reasons, as well!
A complete analysis on VILPAs and how to use them in daily living, along with access to a private podcast, live sessions with me, a library of articles and videos, and much more as a Physionic Insider - join here.
Dr. Nicolas Verhoeven
References
[Study 452] Stamatakis E, Ding D, Gilchrist S, et al. Vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity and all-cause mortality: a prospective cohort study. Nat Med. 2022;28(11):2344–2353. doi:10.1038/s41591-022-02000-6
Funding/Conflicts: Mixed Funding [Public: Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC); Non-Profit: Wellcome Trust] // No direct Conflicts of Interest
[A] Casey DP, Ueda K, Wegman-Points L, Pierce GL. Muscle contraction induced arterial shear stress increases endothelial nitric oxide synthase phosphorylation in humans. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2017;313(4):H854-H859. doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00282.2017
(MetabolicChemistry -> (Epi)Genetics -> ProteinBiochemistry) Circularized and Summarised in MSNGSMS
4wSounds good - another advantage of explosive activity in HIIT. The general idea that is revisited - is that damage is more fragile to challenge than integrity. Idea used in advocating extreme fasting vs Senescent and Pre-cancerous/Cancerous cells - that sit on the two extremes of a balanced quiescent state. A remarkable array of Quality control procedures of our physical body which're naturally chosen if we attain Quality in mental processes.