A heart attack can occur at any age. You are never too young to start heart-healthy living. In fact, setting good habits early on in life will only benefit your future health. Physical activity is just one healthy habit that can help control risk factors for heart disease.
- Cholesterol- In a meta-analysis of 51 interventional studies (4,700 participants) involving 12 weeks or more of aerobic exercise; studies found that on average, HDL (“good”) cholesterol increased by 4.6%, triglycerides fell by 3.7%, and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol fell by 5%. Although moderate-intensity exercise produces improvements, even better success is achieved with higher intensity exercise. Resistance training produces similar results, especially high-volume resistance training such as circuit training.
- Hypertension- A study performed on individuals with resistant hypertension (failure to achieve optimal blood pressure while taking more than 3 antihypertensive medications) showed that aerobic exercise (treadmill walking intervals) 3 times weekly significantly reduced daytime systolic and diastolic blood pressures by 5.9±11.6 and 3.3±6.5 mm Hg, respectively.
- Diabetes- Both aerobic and resistance training exercise promote adaptations in skeletal muscle, fat tissue, and liver associated with enhanced insulin action (better blood sugar control), even without weight loss. Additionally, research trials which include at least 150-175 minutes per week of physical activity and dietary restriction targeting weight loss of 5%-7% have reduced the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in those with pre-diabetes by 40%-70%!
- Overweight/obesity- In addition to a healthy, balanced diet, regular aerobic exercise and/or resistance training helps maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight or obese is the strongest risk factor for diabetes.
Your health is in your control; get moving today!
References:
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/hypertensionaha.112.197780
https://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/diacare/39/11/2065.full.pdf
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-013-0110-5
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4751088/pdf/nihms756431.pdf
