Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in both women and men globally. In new research, scientists found that brief bouts of vigorous daily activities (such as mopping, scrubbing, or running for a bus) were associated with lower risk of major cardiovascular events, including heart attack and heart failure, in women who didn’t usually exercise—even if these bursts of activity lasted less than one minute.
Over 13,000 women and 9,350 men wore accelerometers to measure their activity over the course of seven days. The participants were then followed for close to eight years to record any major adverse cardiovascular events. In women, even a total of 3.4 minutes per day of vigorous normal activity was associated with, on average, a 45 percent lower risk. The more vigorous activity they did, the lower their risk of major cardiovascular events. The effect was not as clear in men, who, the authors suggest, may require some intentional physical activity on top of their normal daily activity to lower their risk of heart attacks, heart failure, and other cardiovascular events.
While one-and-a-quarter hours of vigorous activity (or two-and-a-half hours of moderate activity) a week is best, anything we do that gets our heart rate up is beneficial to our heart health.