Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the U.S., making it critical to have on your radar.
While research has consistently found that eating a healthy diet and being active can lower your cardiovascular disease risk, a recent study suggests even little tweaks to your fitness can have a big impact.
Given that many people struggle to work out due to jam-packed schedules, the findings are definitely getting attention. So, what did the study find and how much exercise are we talking? Here’s what you need to know.
Meet the experts: Rigved Tadwalkar, MD, a consultative cardiologist and medical director of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Center at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA; Dor Lotan, MD, advanced heart failure cardiologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center
What did the study find?
The study, which was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, analyzed data from more than 103,000 adults who participated in the UK Biobank, a long-term biomedical database. The participants, who had an average age of 61, wore an activity tracker for a week straight between 2013 and 2015.
The researchers looked at the activity tracker data to see which participants had periods of vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity (VILPA), or short bursts of high intensity exercise, during their day.
The researchers discovered that female participants who didn’t follow a formal exercise routine and recorded an average of 3.4 minutes of those activity bursts a day were 45% less likely to have any kind of major adverse cardiovascular events like heart attack and stroke compared to women who didn’t have any of those activity bursts during their day.
They were also 51% less likely to have a heart attack, and 67% less likely to have heart failure.
“Vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity may be a promising physical activity target for cardiovascular disease prevention, particularly in women unable or not willing to engage in formal exercise,” the researchers wrote in the conclusion.
Are the results applicable to Americans?
The study was conducted on residents in the UK, but scientists usually say that results from research on that population can apply to Americans (and vice versa).
“Cardiovascular disease remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. As such, identifying accessible, sustainable interventions is vital for public health,” says Rigved Tadwalkar, MD, a consultative cardiologist and medical director of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Center at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA.
What’s the takeaway from the findings?
The researchers found that even shorter amounts of small bursts of activity could have an impact on cardiovascular disease risk in people who don’t work out regularly.
For example, doing these short bursts of activity for as little as 1.2 minutes a day was linked to a 30% lower risk of all major adverse cardiovascular events, including a 40% lower risk of heart failure and 33% lower risk of heart attack.
The findings “align with the growing evidence supporting cumulative benefits from brief, regular physical activity,” says Dor Lotan, MD, advanced heart failure cardiologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. “Previous studies have [also] shown that even ‘incidental’ activity, like multiple short walking breaks, significantly reduces cardiovascular risk over time,” he adds.
Easy Ways To Add Short Bursts Of Activity During The Day
The study didn’t track exactly what people did when they had these short bursts of activity, but Tadwalkar says it’s important to focus on making “small, deliberate changes” to your everyday activities.
That can include:
Taking the stairs at a brisk pace.
Walking fast when you take a phone call vs. sitting while you talk.
Carrying groceries instead of using a cart.
Doing jumping jacks or squats throughout your day.
Doing household chores at a fast pace.
All of this “can contribute to these short bursts of vigorous activity,” Tadwalkar says. The overall goal is to get your heart rate up, which may make you feel a little winded, but not gasping for air. “So, take a quick walk today, and make it a habit. Your heart will thank you,” Lotan says.
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