Brief but intense physical activities integrated into daily life, such as quickly climbing stairs, could almost halve the cardiovascular risk in women who are not very or not very athletic, according to a study.
- A study shows that short, intense physical efforts, integrated into the daily routine, such as climbing stairs or carrying heavy loads, can significantly reduce cardiovascular risks.
- In women who do not practice sports, 3.4 minutes per day of this type of activity reduces the risk of major cardiovascular diseases by 45%, and up to 67% for heart failure. Even 1 to 2 minutes is enough for noticeable benefits.
- Although the effects are less marked in men, this approach could become an accessible solution to preserve heart health.
What if simple daily physical efforts, such as quickly climbing stairs or carrying heavy bags, for just 1.5 to 4 minutes per day, could drastically reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease? This is what a new study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine : practicing brief but intense activities, integrated into the daily routine, could almost halve this risk in women who are less or not athletic.
Effort in everyday life
In order to evaluate the effect of this type of activity, designated by the acronym VILPA (Vigorous Intermittent Lifestyle Physical Activity), the international team of researchers followed more than 81,000 adults with an average age of 61 from the UK. Biobank, via activity sensors for one week, between 2013 and 2015. Among them, some 22,000 participants declared that they did not practice regular physical exercise, sometimes limited to a simple weekly walk. Their health data was then analyzed until 2022 to identify major cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks, strokes or heart failure.
As a result, it appears that just a few minutes of intermittent exercise can be enough to prevent risks. Particularly for women: those not practicing sport but taking an average of 3.4 minutes of VILPA per day, the probabilities of cardiovascular events were reduced by 45%, with even more marked reductions for heart attacks (-51 %) and heart failure (-67%). Even one to two minutes of effort per day significantly reduced these risks, by 30, 33 and 40% respectively.
In men, although the practice of VILPA also showed some benefits, the effects were much less pronounced. Thus, an average of 5.6 minutes per day only resulted in a 16% reduction in the risk of cardiovascular events, and “there was no clear association with disease subcategories”can we read in a press release.
An alternative to classic sport?
Although this study is observational and cannot establish a cause and effect link, these results suggest that VILPA could become an effective approach for people, especially women, who are unable or unwilling to follow a health program. structured exercise.
To fully preserve their cardiovascular health, men should, for their part, “prioritize regular and intense physical activity”underline the authors. As a reminder, theWorld Health Organization (WHO) estimates that adults aged 18 to 64 should spend at least 75 to 150 minutes per week doing sustained-intensity endurance activity (such as running), and between 150 and 300 minutes per week doing vigorous-intensity activity. moderate.