Short bursts of incidental vigorous physical exertion, lasting less than a minute each, may almost halve the risk of a major cardiovascular event, such as heart attack or heart failure among women who don't exercise regularly, finds research published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Just 1.5-4 daily minutes of high intensity routine activities, such as brisk stair climbing or carrying heavy shopping, may help to stave off cardiovascular disease among those either unwilling or unable to take part in structured exercise or sport, conclude the international team of researchers.
Longer bouts of high intensity physical activity in middle age are associated with significantly lower risks of cardiovascular disease, but it's not clear if much shorter bursts of this level of activity that are often part of a daily routine-;formally known as vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity, or VILPA for short-;may also be effective at lowering risk, and if so, what the minimum threshold for measurable effects might be, they add. This is particularly important for women who don't or can't exercise regularly, for whatever reason, because women tend to have a lower level of cardiorespiratory fitness than men at any given age, explain the researchers. To explore this further, they drew on 81,052 middle-aged men and women (average age 61) from the UK Biobank who wore an activity tracker for a full week for 24 hours/day between 2013 and 2015.
Participants were divided into.