Carrying heavy shopping bags or climbing stairs in short bursts can cut women’s chances of having a heart attack by half, a research project suggests.
Daily activities can help avoid heart problems in those who would otherwise be inactive.
The scientists said turning incidental exercise into a lifestyle habit could be “a promising option” for women who don’t like or can’t do structured exercise.
The study used data from more than 22,000 British men and women aged 40 to 79 who admitted they did not exercise regularly.
Each wore fitness trackers for nearly 24 hours a day for seven days between 2013 and 2015.
Their health was monitored through hospital and mortality records, which tracked “major adverse cardiovascular events” such as heart attacks, strokes and heart failure through November 2022.
High-intensity physical activity that is part of your daily routine is known as intermittent lifestyle vigorous physical activity.
Middle-aged women who spent an average of 3.4 minutes a day had their chances of suffering a major cardiovascular event reduced by 45 percent.
A woman exercising. A few short, precise exercises can help avoid heart problems in people who would otherwise be inactive.
High-intensity physical activity that is part of your daily routine is known as intermittent lifestyle vigorous physical activity. Middle-aged women who spent an average of 3.4 minutes a day had their chances of suffering a major cardiovascular event reduced by 45 percent.
They were 51 percent less likely to have a heart attack and 67 percent less likely to develop heart failure than women who did not engage in such activity.
Even doing about a minute and a half of vigorous activity a day reduces the risk of heart attack by a third and the risk of heart failure by 40 percent. This is particularly significant because women tend to have a lower level of cardiorespiratory fitness than men, the researchers said.
Lead author Emmanuel Stamatakis, a professor at the University of Sydney, said: “Making short bursts of vigorous physical activity a lifestyle habit could be a promising option for women who are not interested in structured exercise or who are not interested in it. They can do it.”
“As a starting point, it could be as simple as incorporating a few minutes of activities such as climbing stairs, carrying groceries, or walking uphill throughout the day.”
Professor Stamatakis added: “This should not be seen as a quick fix – there are no magic bullets for health.” But our results show that even a little higher-intensity activity can help and could be just the thing to help people develop a habit of regular physical activity (or even exercise).’
The benefits were not as great among men: Those who averaged 5.6 minutes of high-intensity activity each day were only 16 percent less likely to suffer a major cardiovascular event compared to men who did none.
Similarly, a minimum of 2.3 minutes per day was associated with only an 11 percent risk reduction, according to the findings, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.