Regular Exercise—Along
With Standing—Is the Key to Longevity
Regular exercise reduces your risk of heart
disease in a "dose-response manner."
Posted Jan 18, 2016
Source: DittyAboutSummer/Shutterstock
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in
the United States. Last year, 611,105 American men and women died from
cardiovascular diseases. The annual financial price tag of coronary heart
disease in the U.S. is $108.9 billion. Obviously, the emotional and
psychological toll of cardiovascular disease cannot be measured in dollars and
cents.
In recent decades, a wide range of studies have
found that regular physical activity dramatically reduces a person's risk of
dying from cardiovascular disease. Unfortunately, only about half of U.S.
adults meet the federally recommended guidelines of 150 minutes per week of
moderate intensity exercise, or 75 minutes per week of vigorous,
high-intensity exercise. If you are someone who doesn't meet these guidelines,
hopefully this blog post will inspire you to exercise more, sit
less, and help you stay alive longer.
Regular Exercise Is Critical for Heart Health and
Longevity
Source: Dirima/Shutterstock
According to the council, small amounts of
physical activity—including standing—are associated with a lower risk of
cardiovascular disease. The ECC also found that larger doses
of exercise can lead to an even greater reduction in risk of death
from cardiovascular disease in a dose-dependent manner, up to a certain
point.
For this report, the
researchers analyzed the volume and intensity of aerobic exercise
required for favorable cardiovascular health. They also addressed the question
of whether or not there is an amount of endurance aerobic exercise that might
backfire and actually increase someone's risk of cardiovascular disease.
The council concluded that moderate and
vigorous intensity exercise in amounts lower than the 2008 Physical Activity
Guideline recommendations can lower mortality risk in the
broad population. In a press release, JACC Editor-in-Chief Valentin Fuster(link is external), M.D., Ph.D., said,
"The evidence with regard to exercise
continues to unfold and educate the cardiovascular clinical community. The
greatest benefit is to simply exercise, regardless of the intensity, while the
danger is twofold: to not exercise at all or to exercise intensely, without due
preparation."
When It Comes to Exercise, More Is Not
Necessarily Better
Source: Rangizz/Shutterstock
The researchers found that increasing
your amount of moderate intensity exercise reduces the risk of dying from
cardiovascular disease. However, the cardiovascular mortality benefits
from vigorous intensity exercise level off at a certain point.
The council concluded, “There is no evidence for
an upper limit to exercise-induced health benefits and all amounts of both
moderate and vigorous intensity exercise result in a reduction of both
all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality compared to physical
inactivity.”
Based on my personal experience as a former
ultra-endurance athlete, I can attest to the fact that more isn’t always better
when it comes to endurance training or competitions. Although I managed to
break a Guinness World Record(link is external) by running 153.76
miles non-stop on a treadmill when I was 38, I retired after that event because
it almost killed me. Exercising for 30-60 minutes, most days of the week,
is great for your psychological and physical well-being, running non-stop
for 24 hours is not.
“Hall, 33, who was one of the last remaining
hopes for an American front-runner in this summer’s Olympic marathon, is
succumbing to chronically lowtestosterone levels
and fatigue so extreme, he says, that he can barely log 12 easy miles a week.
“Up to this point, I always believed my best
races were still ahead of me,” said Hall, who has faced a series of physical
setbacks since the 2012 London Olympics. “I’ve explored every issue to get back
to the level I’ve been at, and my body is not responding. I realized that it
was time to stop striving, to finally be satisfied and decide, ‘Mission
accomplished.’”
That said, the researchers still say that
high volumes of aerobic exercise aren't nearly as bad for cardiovascular
outcomes as no exercise at all. According to the council, "the possibility
that too much exercise training could be harmful is worthy of investigation,
but research results show that even for the very active, lifelong endurance
athletes, the benefits of exercise training outweigh the risks."
In a press release, Michael Scott Emery(link is external),
M.D., co-chair of the ACC Sports and Exercise Cardiology Council,
said, "The public media has embraced the idea that exercise may harm
the heart and disseminated this message, thereby diverting attention away from
the benefits of exercise as a potent intervention for the primary and secondary
prevention of heart disease."
Standing Improves Your Heart Health
Source: Dirima/Shutterstock
One of the most interesting findings of the new
report is that standing can also help reduce your risk of
cardiovascular disease. How many hours a day would you estimate that you
spend sitting? If you spend the majority of your day sitting, you are not
alone.
Sedentary behavior and a chronic lack of
physical activity—also known as "sedentarism"—have become a national
epidemic. The statistics on sedentarism are alarming. The average American sits
for 11 hours a day. Sedentary lifestyles are related to $24 billion in direct
medical spending. 20% of all deaths for people over age 35 are linked
to physical inactivity and sedentarism.
Conclusion: Sitting Less and Exercising
More Reduces Heart Disease Risk
Source: Andrey Burmakin/Shutterstock
I’ve dedicated my life to trying to find ways to
motivate people from all walks of life to be more physically active. If you are
currently sedentary or inactive, hopefully these findings will inspire you to
be more active. My father died prematurely of a heart attack. Like the
majority of Americans, my dad didn’t make exercise a priority and was sedentary
during the final years of his life. I believe that too much sitting and not
enough exercise was the leading cause of his death.
I'm a 50-year-old parent of
an 8-year-old daughter. My prime driving force and source ofmotivation to exercise
regularly, and to sit less, is my daughter. I don't want to die young
and leave her fatherless . . . like my father inadvertently
abandoned me and my sisters. Regardless of whether or not you're a parent,
staying alive for your family and loved ones can be a strong source
of motivation to sit less and exercise more for anybody.
From a healthcare provider standpoint, Emery
concluded, "The available evidence should prompt clinicians to recommend
strongly low and moderate exercise training for the majority of our patients.
Equally important are initiatives to promote population health at large through
physical activity across the lifespan, as it modulates behavior from childhood into
adult life."
Reference:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201601/regular-exercise-along-standing-is-the-key-longevity
