While we know that 150-minute moderate intensity physical activity per week is the global fitness norm, new research suggests that the number should be higher if we want to protect the heart. There’s more. That activity needs to be higher for men than women, twice as much.
The study, published in the journal Nature Cardiovascular Research, indicates that men and women should have different exercise goals to prevent heart disease. The WHO recommends that adults aim for at least 150–300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75–150 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity per week, plus muscle-strengthening activities at least two days a week.
For the study, researchers tracked more than 85,000 adults in the UK with wearables for seven years, who did moderate to vigorous exercise, and correlated their activity patterns with their risk of developing heart disease and dying. Women without heart disease, who completed 250 minutes of exercise each week, lowered their risk of heart disease by about 30 per cent. Men required 530 minutes for the same benefit. Women without heart disease, who met the recommended 150 minutes of exercise per week, saw their heart disease risk drop by 22 per cent. For men, that risk went by 17 per cent. Women with existing heart disease, who exercised for 250 minutes a week, dropped their risk of death by threefold compared to men, who needed twice as much activity.
What are takeaways?
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“The biggest takeaway is the gender-specific approach to exercise. Women can achieve the same cardio-protective gains as men with lesser effort. But what is more significant is that heart benefits increase when women stretch the same routines per week by 50 per cent and men by 200 per cent,” says Dr Abhishek Srivastava, Director, Centre for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Mumbai. He specialises in cardiac rehabilitation.
What explains the gender difference in exercise benefits?
The female hormone estrogen burns more fat. Studies show women may be more efficient at burning fat as a fuel source during exercise compared to men. “Women’s muscles are like marathon runners; men’s muscles are more like a combination of sprint and marathon runners. The female hormone estrogen impacts how the body uses fuel. This may lead to a greater reliance on fat as an energy source during exercise compared to carbohydrates. Also, women have a higher proportion of type 1 muscle fibres, which are better at handling oxidative stress or cell damage and, therefore, help in the efficacy of shorter routines,” says Dr Srivastava.
Men’s muscles are made for shorter, powerful movements, which even have afterburn capabilities, but women have more workout efficiency.
However, Dr Srivastava explains, after menopause, women are exposed to the same cardiac risks as men.
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What is moderate to vigorous exercise that study authors talk about?
It is any routine which elevates heart rate and breathing. “Ideally, it is anything that makes you break a sweat and talk in shorter sentences while doing that activity,” says Dr Srivastava.
Is more better when it comes to exercise?
While the study shows that increasing our exercise time can be more cardio-protective, Dr Srivastava feels it is a one-off and guidelines are formed by a corroborative review of all studies linking exercise patterns with heart health. “Besides, we see very little compliance of the 150-minute routine. Let’s get there first. Even 250 minutes are a stretch, leave aside 500 for regular people. But the study does prove that more exercise and a consistent routine is good for the heart. Exercise is non-negotiable for preventive heart health,” says Dr Srivastava.
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