Short Bursts of Vigorous Activity Linked With Living Longer
By EUROPEAN SOCIETY OF CARDIOLOGY
“The results indicate that accumulating vigorous
activity in short bouts across the week can help us live longer,” said study
author Dr. Matthew N. Ahmadi of the University of Sydney, Australia. “Given
that lack of time is the most commonly reported barrier to regular physical
activity, accruing small amounts sporadically during the day may be a
particularly attractive option for busy people.”
A second study found that for a given amount of physical activity, increasing the intensity was associated with a reduced likelihood of cardiovascular disease. This study was also published on October 27 in the European Heart Journal.[2] “Our study shows that it’s not just the amount of activity, but also the intensity, that is important for cardiovascular health,” said study author Dr. Paddy C. Dempsey of the University of Leicester and University of Cambridge, UK, and the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
Both studies included adults aged 40 to 69 years
from the UK Biobank, a large-scale biomedical database and research resource.
Participants wore an activity tracker on their wrists for seven consecutive
days. This is an objective way to measure motion and is a particularly good way
to gauge sporadic activity of different intensities during the day.
“Our study shows that it’s not just the amount
of activity, but also the intensity, that is important for cardiovascular
health.” — Dr. Paddy C. Dempsey
71,893 adults without cardiovascular disease or cancer were enrolled in the first study. Participants had a median age of 62.5 years and 56% were women. The researchers measured the total amount of weekly vigorous activity and the frequency of bouts lasting two minutes or less.
Participants were followed for an average of 6.9 years. After excluding events
occurring in the first year, the investigators analyzed the associations of
volume and frequency of vigorous activity with death (all-cause, cardiovascular
disease, and cancer) and incidence of cardiovascular disease and cancer.
The risk of all five adverse outcomes reduced as
the volume and frequency of vigorous activity increased, with benefits seen
even with small amounts. For example, participants with no vigorous activity
had a 4% risk of dying within five years. Risk was halved to 2% with less than
10 minutes of weekly vigorous activity, and fell to 1% with 60 minutes or more.
Compared with just two minutes of vigorous
activity per week, 15 minutes was associated with an 18% lower risk of death
and a 15% lower likelihood of cardiovascular disease, while 12 minutes was
associated with a 17% reduced risk of cancer. Further gains were observed with
greater amounts of vigorous activity. For instance, approximately 53 minutes a
week was associated with a 36% lower risk of death from any cause.
Regarding frequency, accumulating short bouts
(up to two minutes) of vigorous activity on average four times a day was
associated with a 27% lower risk of death. But health benefits were observed at
even lower frequencies: 10 short bouts a week was associated with 16% and 17%
lower risks of cardiovascular disease and cancer, respectively.
The second study included 88,412 adults free of
cardiovascular disease. The average age was 62 years and 58% were women. The
investigators estimated the volume and intensity of physical activity, then
analyzed their associations with incident cardiovascular disease (ischaemic
heart disease or cerebrovascular disease). Participants were followed for a
median 6.8 years.
The researchers found that both higher amounts
and greater intensity were associated with lower rates of incident
cardiovascular disease. Increasing the intensity led to greater reductions in
cardiovascular disease for the same volume of exercise. For example, the rate
of cardiovascular disease was 14% lower when moderate-to-vigorous activity
accounted for 20% rather than 10% of activity, the equivalent of converting a
14-minute stroll into a brisk seven-minute walk.
Dr. Dempsey said: “Our results suggest that
increasing the total volume of physical activity is not the only way to reduce
the likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease. Raising the intensity was
also particularly important, while increasing both was optimal. This indicates
that boosting the intensity of activities you already do is good for heart
health. For example, picking up the pace on your daily walk to the bus stop or
completing household chores more quickly.”
References:
- “Vigorous physical activity,
incident heart disease, and cancer: how little is enough?” by Matthew N
Ahmadi, Philip J Clare, Peter T Katzmarzyk, Borja del Pozo Cruz, I-Min Lee
and Emmanuel Stamatakis, 27 October 2022, European
Heart Journal.
DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehac572 - “Physical Activity Volume,
Intensity and Incident Cardiovascular Disease” by Paddy C Dempsey, Alex V
Rowlands, Tessa Strain, Francesco Zaccardi, Nathan Dawkins, Cameron
Razieh, Melanie J Davies, Kamlesh K Khunti, Charlotte L Edwardson, Katrien
Wijndaele, Soren Brage and Tom Yates, 27 October 2022, European Heart Journal.
DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehac613 - “The Hare and the Tortoise:
Physical Activity Intensity and Scientific Translation” by Charles E
Matthews and Pedro F Saint-Maurice, 27 October 2022, European Heart Journal.
DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehac626
