It takes little physical effort to improve heart health

It’s not necessary to be an athlete to improve cardiovascular health. Far from it.

A study presented at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress shows that low physical fitness—up to 20 percent below the average for healthy people—is sufficient to produce a preventative effect on most of the risk factors that affect people with cardiovascular disease.

Many studies have shown that good physical fitness lowers cardiovascular mortality rates, but no research has been done into the level of activity required to make an impact, according to Maxime Caru, a doctoral student in human kinetics at the University of Montreal’s Department of Kinesiology and lead author of the study.

To measure the impact of physical fitness on heart disease risk factors, the researchers selected 205 men and 44 women with heart disease, including coronary artery disease, stroke, congestive heart failure and heart valve disease. Participants completed a stress test to determine their fitness level.

The results showed that normal physical fitness—even up to 20 percent below the population average—is sufficient to have a preventative effect on five of the eight risk factors affecting people with cardiovascular disease: abdominal circumference, diabetes, hypertension, obesity and excess weight.

Normal physical fitness is defined as having a physical fitness level of a person with the same height, weight, sex and age of someone who is disease-free.