To improve cardiorespiratory health, you don’t need to work out for hours. Getting more active on a daily basis would have a positive impact, regardless of your starting level of physical activity, a Swedish study reveals.
Move more is linked to a longer life, regardless of age, gender and level of fitness with which one begins. This is what a study confirms presented on April 12 at EuroPrevent 2019, congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) held in Lisbon (Portugal). Thus, improving your physical condition does not require running for hours if you do not like it. But simply to activate more.
Reduced risk of mortality
The study was based on the cardiorespiratory condition of 316,137 adults aged 18 to 74, between 1995 and 2015 in Sweden. The test measured the maximum oxygen uptake that the heart and lungs can provide to the muscles during exercise. This is expressed in mL / minute / kg of body weight. Swedish national registries were also used to obtain data on all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events over the same period.
In the end, for each increase of one milliliter in VO2 max, the risk of all-cause mortality decreased by 2.8%. For cardiovascular events, this reduction was 3.2%. And these improvements in cardiorespiratory condition, in conjunction with exercise, have benefited all groups of individuals, women and men, young and old, sedentary as well as sports.
“It is particularly important to note that an increase in physical condition was beneficial regardless of the starting point., says study author Dr Ekblom-Bak from the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden. This suggests that people with lower cardiorespiratory fitness have the most to gain from improved fitness. “
Fight against sedentary lifestyle
“People think they need to start going to the gym and exercising to be in better shape., she continues. But it doesn’t have to be that complicated. For most people, just being more active in everyday life – taking the stairs, getting out of the metro one station earlier, cycling to work – is enough to benefit, improve their health, as baseline levels are high. weak. The more you do, the better. “
According to the scientist, previous research has shown that the fitness level of the general population has fallen by 10% over the past twenty-five years. In 2016-2017, one in two people was weakly active. “Poor physical condition is as damaging as smoking, obesity and diabetes, even in healthy adults, she recalls. But unlike these other risk factors, it is not systematically measured. “
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