Exercises that build strength can
benefit the heart more than aerobic activities, such as walking and cycling,
according to recent research.
New research suggests that strength
training is the best exercise for heart health.
A survey of 4,000 adults revealed
that static activity, such as strength training, had stronger links to reduced
risk of cardiovascular diseases than dynamic activity, such as walking and
cycling.
The researchers point out, however,
that any amount of either kind of exercise brings benefits, and that it is
probably better to do both than to increase either.
"Both
strength training and aerobic activity appeared to be heart healthy, even in
small amounts, at the population level," says Dr. Maia P. Smith, who is an
assistant professor in the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine
at St. George's University in Grenada.
She explains, however, that while "static activity appeared
more beneficial than dynamic," the findings also revealed that those who
engaged in both kinds of activity "fared better" than those who just
increased the amount of only one type.
The study featured at the 2018
American College of Cardiology Latin America Conference that took place last
week in Lima, Peru.
Recommended
amounts and type of exercise
According to the American Heart
Association (AHA), guidelines recommend that adults in the United States should
be physically active for at least 150 minutes each week.
This activity should consist of at
least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes per week of
vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise, or a combination. It is better to spread
the exercise across the week than complete it all in 1 or 2 days.
The guidelines also advise doing
exercise that strengthens the muscles, such as resistance or weight training.
People should do this on at least 2 days per week.
Even
greater benefits accrue from 300 minutes of exercise per week, say the AHA.
They also recommend breaking up prolonged bouts of sitting — even getting up
and doing some light activity is better than just sitting, they add.
The Go4Life program from the
National Institute of Aging (NIA), which is one of the National Institutes of
Health (NIH), advises older adults to do four types of
exercise:
·
Endurance, or aerobic, exercises
that increase breathing and raise heart rate.
·
Strength, or resistance, exercises
that strengthen major muscle groups in the upper and lower body and improve
their function.
·
Balance exercises to reduce the risk
of falls and the disabilities that they can cause.
·
Flexibility exercises that stretch
the body and increase a person's range of movement.
Aerobic activity includes walking,
jogging, cycling, swimming, gardening and all forms of sports, such as golf,
tennis, and volleyball.
Push-ups, static rowing, resistance
training, dips, arm and leg raises, and hand grips are all examples of
strength-building exercises.
Practicing Tai Chi and yoga can improve balance and flexibility
as can simple exercises that involve the use the body or everyday objects, such
as a chair.
Types of
exercise and cardiovascular risk
Dr. Smith and her colleagues used
data from the 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey on
4,086 adults in the U.S.
This included information that
individuals gave about types of physical activity and the presence of
cardiovascular risk factors, including high blood pressure, being
overweight, having high cholesterol, and having diabetes.
The team analyzed the cardiovascular
risk factors against the type of activity in terms of whether it was static,
such as weight training, or dynamic, such as walking or cycling.
After
adjusting the results for age, gender, ethnicity, and smoking status, they
looked at the results in two age groups: 21-44 years (younger adults) and over
45 years (older adults).
These revealed that 36 percent of
the younger adults compared with 25 percent of the older adults reported doing
static exercise.
For dynamic exercise, 28 percent of
the younger adults compared with 21 percent of the older adults said that they
engaged in this type.
'Both
activity types were beneficial'
Doing either type of exercise was
linked to a lowering of cardiovascular risk factors of between 30 and 70
percent. The link was strongest for younger adults and doing static exercises.
Dr. Smith suggests that future
studies should do more to differentiate between the two types of exercise so
that scientists can see their separate effects on health more clearly.
Only around 1 in 5 adults and teens
in the U.S. meet the recommended 150 minutes per week of
"heart-pumping" activity, say the AHA.
With this in mind, perhaps the more
pressing message of the recent study, as Dr. Smith concludes, is that – since
"both activity types were beneficial" – clinicians should encourage
people to "exercise regardless."
"The important thing is to make
sure they are engaging in physical activity."
No comments:
Post a Comment