Just 30 minutes of cycling is enough to reduce your chance of a heart attack
In order to be truly "fit", most us imagine that it takes hours and hours of strenuous exercise – but if you simply want to reduce your chance of heart disease, just 30 minutes of sweating a week will do.
New research published by the American Heart Association has found that as little as 30 minutes of recreational cycling a week is enough to provide some protection against heart attacks.
In two separate studies published simultaneously, researchers found that doing pretty much any exercise at all was enough to give your heart a boost – and cycling was simply the most time-efficient way for people to do this when commuting.
In the first study, Danish researchers enlisted 45,000 mature adults between the ages of 50 and 65, who all regularly cycled as a way of commuting to work.
After following the participants over 20 years between 1993 and 2013, the researchers were able to pinpoint the effect all of this cycling had on protecting the heart.
The results showed that regularly cycling – even as little as 30 minutes a week – was enough to lower people's risk of a heart attack of up to 18 percent.
So critical was regular time on the bike, that the researchers estimate that more than 7 percent of all heart attacks could be prevented simply by taking up leisurely cycling.
According to Professor Anders Grontved, who led the study, this finding doesn’t say that cycling prevents heart attacks, but it does point out that the huge benefit of incidental exercise – that is, moving without having a "planned" gym session or workout.
"Finding time for exercise can be challenging for many people, so clinicians working in the field of cardiovascular risk prevention should consider promoting cycling as a mode of transportation," said Grontved in a media release.
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This finding was also reflected in a second study carried out by Swedish researchers, that directly analysed the link between active commuting (that is, cycling or walking) and general health.
After following more than 20,000 people over a period of 10 years, the researchers found that those who cycled or walked to work were far less likely to suffer from factors that lead to increased heart attacks.
People who haD an "active commute" were found to be 15 percent less likely to be obese, 13 percent less likely to have high blood pressure and 15 percent less likely to have high cholesterol.
If that wasn't enough reason to strap on a helmet and hit the bike lanes, the researchers also found that walking or cycling to walk – if distance permits – was one of the most sustainable forms of activity, compared to a gym membership or planned workout times.
"We found active commuting, which has the additional advantages of being time-efficient, cheaper and environmentally friendly is also great for your health," said lead author Professor Paul Franks in a press release.
"The multiple advantages of active commuting over structured exercise may help clinicians convey a message that many patients will embrace more readily than being told to join a gym, go for a jog or join a sports team."
The most encouraging part of both studies was the positive impact of simply doing some kind of activity every day – even if it wasn't particularly strenuous or meticulously planned to burn fat and build muscle.
The researchers in both studies noted that there was pretty much no minimum amount of time or distance to reduce your risk of a heart attack, but of course the longer you go, the more protection you'll see.
For Franks, it's a pertinent reminder that exercise doesn’t have to be performed at a balls-out intensity in commercial activewear to see huge benefits for your cardiovascular health.
"The really good news here is that it's never too late to benefit from an active lifestyle," Franks said.
"People who switched from passive to active commuting saw considerable gains in their cardiovascular health."
Here in Australia, the official government recommendation is that everyone should accumulate at least 150 minutes of moderate physical intensity a week.
That may sound a little extreme, but if you break it down it actually becomes quite manageable – for instance, simply taking 15 minutes to briskly walk to and from work during the week meets the requirements.
Add any extra exercise time at all – whether it's playing tennis with friends, hitting the gym or even working in the garden – and you're likely to make drastic improvements to your cardiovascular health.