Running is better than walking and, if you walk, it is preferable to do it at a good pace. A study published in the “European Heart Journal” has concluded that intense exercise is the best way to prevent cardiovascular disease.
Current physical activity guidelines recommend that adults should aim to be active every day, and also that they should get 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity (such as a brisk walk) or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity (such as jogging). ) weekly. Volume of physical activity is defined as intensity of activity multiplied by time, but until recently it was unclear whether total volume of physical activity is more important for health, or whether more vigorous activity confers additional benefits.
Led by researchers from the Leicester Biomedical Research Center and the University of Cambridge, UK, the study analyzed physical activity data measured with a wrist accelerometer from more than 88,000 UK Biobank participants.
“Most of the large-scale studies to date have used questionnaires to determine the physical activity levels of participants, but the intensity and duration of physical activity are difficult to remember precisely, especially when it comes to activities. low-intensity daily activities, such as washing the car or tidying the laundry. Without accurate records of the duration and intensity of physical activity, it has not been possible to separate the contribution of more vigorous physical activity from that of overall physical activity volume.” Paddy Dempseyauthor of the work.
The wearable devices helped accurately detect and record the intensity and duration of movement for 90,000 individual participants of the UK Biobank.
The data demonstrate that moderate and vigorous intensity activity provides a greater reduction in the overall risk of premature death. “More vigorous physical activity may also reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, above the benefit seen in the total amount of physical activity, since it stimulates the body to adapt to the increased effort required. This is what we set out to investigate in the research published today.”
Moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity provides a greater reduction in the overall risk of premature death
The authors found that the total volume of physical activity was strongly associated with a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease, and they also showed that getting more of the total volume of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity was associated with a greater reduction in cardiovascular risk. .
Cardiovascular disease rates were 14% (95% CI: 5-23%) lower when moderate to vigorous physical activity accounted for 20% rather than 10% of total physical activity energy expenditure, even in those who otherwise had low levels of activity. This is equivalent to turning a 14-minute daily walk into a 7-minute brisk walk.
Overall, the lowest rates of cardiovascular disease were seen among UK Biobank participants who engaged in higher overall levels of physical activity and a higher proportion of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Interestingly, however, when the overall volume of physical activity increased but the proportion of moderate to vigorous activity remained the same, the authors found little effect on the rate of cardiovascular disease.
For example, when overall physical activity levels were doubled, there was no significant effect on cardiovascular disease rates when the proportion of moderate-to-vigorous activity was held at 10%, but the cardiovascular disease rate was reduced by 23 % and 40% when the proportion of moderate to vigorous physical activity increased by 20% and 40%, respectively.
Study advises turning a 14-minute daily walk into a 7-minute brisk walk
‘Our analysis of data from the UK Biobank confirms that increasing the total amount of physical activity can reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke, but we also found that achieving the same total amount of physical activity by higher-intensity activity has a substantial added benefit,” says lead author Tom Yates.
The findings support simple ‘every move counts’ behavior change messages to encourage people to increase their total physical activity and, if possible, do so by incorporating more moderate-intensity activities. This could be as simple as turning a leisurely walk into a brisk walk, but a variety of approaches should encourage and help individuals find what is most practical or enjoyable for them.».