A recent medical study indicated that climbing stairs and daily household chores, such as mopping floors at home, are sufficient to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
The study found that short periods of “incidental” activity, the kind we do as part of our daily lives, can help keep us healthy as we age.
During the study, a team from the University of Sydney in Australia tracked more than 25,000 adults in the United Kingdom who did not participate in any sports or exercise activity.
They wore devices on the wrist to measure their physical activity patterns. The researchers found that the movement of the study participants, which was often within a time limit of 10 minutes, contributed to a sharp decrease in heart attacks, strokes, and death from any cause over a period of 8 years.
Continuous movement for at least one to three minutes was associated with benefits represented by a 29 percent lower risk of heart attacks and strokes and a 44 percent lower risk of death compared to very short bouts of activity lasting less than a minute.
The more vigorous the activity is in each bout, the better, according to the British Daily Mail newspaper, citing the study, the results of which were published in the Lancet medical journal.
Commenting on the study, Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, senior author, said: “From climbing the stairs to quickly mopping the floors, we realized that such repetitive activities are beneficial to our health.”
“The idea of accumulating short bouts of activity throughout daily life makes physical activity accessible to people who are unwilling or unable to participate in exercise,” Stamatakis added.
He concluded by saying that the main message of our study is that “any type of activity is good for your health, but the more effort you put into those daily tasks and the longer you keep moving, the more benefits you will reap.”
2023-09-29 01:41:57
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