- A recent study found that non-exercise physical activity is associated with a lower risk of serious adverse cardiovascular events.
- Brief periods of physical activity among sedentary individuals were also associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality.
- While physical activity over long periods of time is important, it’s often easier to incorporate it into your daily routine if you do it in short bursts throughout the day.
- Research is ongoing into how short-term exercise can benefit heart health, even in people who don’t exercise regularly.
Physical activity has many health benefits, but incorporating regular exercise can be difficult.
But there is growing evidence that even short-term activities can make a difference.
Recent research published in
Researchers investigated how short bouts of moderate to vigorous intermittent physical activity affected participants’ overall risk of death and serious cardiovascular events. .
The results of this study show that brief periods of physical activity, at least 1 to 5 minutes throughout the day, may reduce the risk of death, heart attack, stroke, heart failure, and other serious adverse cardiac events. Masu.
People can participate in structured exercise, such as going to the gym, attending certain classes, or spending time during the day cycling, running, walking, etc. However, finding more time to exercise can be difficult.
Researchers in this study wanted to understand how short bursts of activity contribute to cardiovascular health.
The study was a prospective cohort study, and the researchers used data from the UK Biobank. The researchers included more than 25,000 participants in his analysis. They excluded participants who reported physical activity in their leisure time and participants who were unable to walk.
The researchers looked at data on the intervals between participants’ moderate to vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity, including the number and duration of bursts of activity. The participant wore her Axivity AX3 accelerometer for 7 days for data collection.
In their analysis, researchers found that bouts of physical activity lasting more than one minute were associated with a lower risk of death and a lower risk of major cardiovascular events.
Study author Matthew Ahmadi, a postdoctoral fellow at the Sydney School of Health Sciences, highlighted some of the study’s key findings. Today’s medical news:
“The main findings of the study are that, like traditional smartwatches, wrist-worn wearables can be used to perform everyday activities (such as gardening, housework, walking to the store, etc.) in a fraction of the time. “Pace and effort for at least 1 to 5 minutes at a time have health-promoting benefits and can lower your risk of heart attack and stroke by 29 to 44 percent.” Masu. ”
Researchers found that even bursts of activity lasting less than 1 minute were associated with a lower risk of major adverse cardiovascular events, compared to an average of 15% or more of activity. Only if active.
Either way, this study shows that even people who have difficulty exercising in their leisure time have ample opportunity to benefit from physical activity.
Dr. Chen-Han Chen, a board-certified interventional cardiologist and medical director of the Structural Heart Program at MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, California, who was not a study author, commented: MNT:
“This study is the first to show that even brief periods of physical activity (as short as a few minutes) throughout the day may reduce the risk of death and cardiac events. These findings , this information is considered promising for public health because it may be easier for people to incorporate short periods of physical activity into their daily routines than longer structured exercise habits. can be used to further encourage physical activity, especially in patients who are unable to exercise.”
This study has certain limitations. First, the data are from the UK Biobank and may not be generalizable to other populations.
Second, the researchers only tracked activity levels for one week, indicating that future studies may investigate longer data collection periods.
Researchers cannot completely rule out the possibility of reverse causation or confounding. It is also possible that moderate to vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity was misclassified, and there is a risk of underestimation, especially when lifting heavy external loads.
Additionally, there was an average lag of 5.5 years between when covariate data were collected and when accelerometer physical activity measurements were taken. This may have influenced results such as how drug use changed within this period.
Mr. Ahmadi pointed to the following areas for continued research:
“Future research is needed to elucidate the precise mechanistic pathways from brief daily activities that lead to improvements in cardiovascular health. Some of the cardioprotective adaptations that occur are control, improving cardiac output, and reducing oxidative stress in our bodies. If this pathway is similar to that seen from exercise-based activity, this could lead to future prevention and It has the potential to influence treatment strategies and give people more options and opportunities to improve their overall health.”
Overall, the evidence shows benefits from even short-term physical activity.
This means that simple daily physical activity can provide health benefits. As noted in this study, some examples include:
- brisk walk
- go up the stairs
- Have fun playing with children
Dr. Chen said:
“There are many ways to incorporate even short amounts of physical activity into your lifestyle. Specifically, taking breaks throughout the day, taking short 5-minute walks (around the house or around the office), taking an elevator trip, etc. Take the stairs instead of walking, park your car further away from stores and walk, walk faster when shopping, use light weights while watching TV, dance to music, and more. You can also incorporate physical activity while doing these things.”
Dr. Alexandra Rajoy, a non-invasive cardiologist at Providence St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., who was not a study author, added:
“I tell my patients that if they don’t have time for a dedicated exercise regimen, they should try to incorporate whatever activities they can find the time for, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator or parking further away. I like to say: Even if you only have a few minutes during the day, exercise.”
