New results from the renowned Framingham Heart Study show how necessary exercise is to stay fit and how it helps the heart. .
Evidence that physical activity prevents heart disease goes back decades. This was one of the first published findings in the late 1960s from the landmark Framingham Heart Study, which began in 1948 and continues today. Two recent studies involving descendants of the original Framingham volunteers provide a better understanding of how different types of activity affect fitness and the heart.
“Exercising more and sitting fewer leads to a healthier, longer life,” says Dr Hicham Skali, a cardiologist at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He adds that these new findings better explain why (and how much) exercise is vital for cardiovascular health.
The fastest route to fitness.
Both studies examined the importance of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), which quantifies the ability of the heart and lungs to deliver oxygen to muscles during physical activity. The first, published on November 21, 2021, in the European Heart Journal, involved 2,070 people in the third-generation cohort, many of whom are the grandchildren of the original Framingham participants. All underwent exercise tests on exercise bikes to measure their CRF; they also wore fitness trackers for a week to measure their activity levels. The researchers then compared the participants’ current values with measurements taken eight years earlier.
