Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death globally as well the leading cause of death and disability in Australia. We are all made well aware that smoking, sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, stress, obesity and poor lifestyle choices will drive heart disease. We are also told to make sure we are doing a minimum of 180 minutes per week of cardiovascular exercise, nothing specific, just we are told we need to move and get our heart rate up and lower our risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) such as heart attack, stroke and heart failure.
Currently physical inactivity is a major public health issue responsible for contributing to around 20 per cent of cardiovascular disease. It would be fair to say we are well aware of the importance of exercise for our health with gyms everywhere but they are only used by around 20 per cent of the middle-aged and older population. There is some new and really interesting research from the University of Sydney finding you can significantly lower the risk of cardiovascular disease by doing up to 4 minutes a day of intense vigorous exercise.
So what does this exactly mean and how can we make this a part of our life? It is as simple as taking the stairs instead of the lift and running up the stairs as fast as possible or going for a walk then sprinting or power walking as fast as possible in bursts. You can also incorporate this into household chores and general daily activities. Think about your environment, do you have a back.
