“Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness”
Even though it is well known that exercise has a protective effect against cardiovascular diseases, many people find it difficult to build structured exercise in their busy lives. It is often assumed that only high intensity exercise is associated with a mortality benefit. However, a recent study looked at the effect of recreational (like sport participation or gym attendance) and non –recreational physical activity (walking on a flat, walking up and down the stairs, vacuum cleaning, etc) in a group of 130000 adult people across North and South America, Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia.
The study concluded that moderate and high physical activity levels were associated with a 20% and 35% respectively reduction in the rate of mortality and major cardiovascular problems like heart attack, stroke and heart failure.
More importantly, non recreational physical activity of intensity was also very effective in reducing the risk of death or major cardiovascular disease, possibly preventing one in 12 deaths.
We all find it difficult to find time to attend the gym or take part in organised sports in our busy lives. However, if we could build into our daily routines some simple tasks like using the stairs instead of the elevator or trying to walk for some of our commute to work, we could greatly improve our fitness level and our health without having to find extra time in our busy days to exercise.
