WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The research, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, found that an average of just four minutes a day of vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity or VILPA, an exercise which can be done in small amounts, could reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events in middle-aged women.
'Physical inactivity is a major public health issue contributing to 6 million deaths per year globally, and is directly responsible for at least 15-20 percent of cardiovascular disease,' explained lead author Emmanuel Stamatakis, director of the Mackenzie Wearables Research Hub in the Charles Perkins Centre, and professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney, in Australia.
'There is a pressing need to identify feasible ways and support people to be physically active. Structured exercise such as gyms, running, classes, etc is fantastic towards these goals but only 20 percent of the middle aged and older population do it regularly.'
The study analyzed data of 22,368 participants, comprising of 13,018 women and 9,350 men, aged between 40 and 79 who reported they did not do regular structured exercise. The participants wore fitness trackers almost all day to keep track of physical activity between 2013 and 2015.
Additionally, their heart health was monitored through hospital and death records, tracking major cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke, and heart failure till 2022.
The researchers noted that women who performed an average of 3.4 minutes of VILPA daily were 45 per cent less likely to experience a major cardiovascular disease. They were also 51 per cent less likely to have a heart attack, and 67 per cent less likely to develop heart failure compared to women who did not do VILPA.
'This finding is significant for at least two reasons,' Stamatakis said. 'First, it represents a much lower amount of physical activity any current exercise related recommendation, and this activity is incidental - which implies that it may be easier for many people to incorporate it into their daily routine.'
'The second noteworthy aspect of these findings is that we should not be fooled into thinking that small amounts of VILPA are a quick fix of a complex problem, like physical inactivity'.
Meanwhile, men who did an average of 5.6 minutes of VILPA daily experienced 16 percent reduction in cardiovascular risks, whereas a minimum of 2.3 minutes of the same lowered the risk by 11 percent.
'Importantly, the beneficial associations we observed were in women who committed to short bursts of Vilpa almost daily. This highlights the importance of habit formation, which is not always easy,' Stamatakis advised.
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