Some physical activity is better than none

Some physical activity is better than none

It is well known that fitness promoting physical activity is good for the health of your heart. But an important question is how much physical activity is good enough. If you can’t find time to have rigorous schedules, is there any good if you do some exercise than none? Jacob and colleagues have evaluated this in a report published in the prestigious cardiology journal Circulation [1].

After evaluating about 3200 studies addressing this aspect since 1995, they included 33 good quality studies. Nine of these studies had information on quantitative estimates of leisure time physical activity. Those who engaged in 150 minutes per week of moderate intensity leisure time activity had a 14% lower risk of coronary heart disease. If it was 300 minutes, the risk reduction was 20%.

There was a modest further reduction at higher levels of physical activity. Those who had lower than the minimum recommended 150 minutes per week of physical activity also had significantly lower risk of coronary heart disease than those who did not. This report supports the concept that some physical activity is better than none and additional benefits occur with more physical activity. So what are you waiting for? Start on that the fitness path which suits you!

Reference

1. Sattelmair J, Pertman J, Ding EL, Kohl HW 3rd, Haskell W, Lee IM. Dose response between physical activity and risk of coronary heart disease: a meta-analysis. Circulation. 2011 Aug 16;124(7):789-95. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.110.010710. Epub 2011 Aug 1. PMID: 21810663; PMCID: PMC3158733.