A study from UCL and the University of Sydney shows that replacing a few minutes of sitting a day with moderate exercise can have major benefits for heart health. Research also shows benefits from light activity, standing and sleeping compared to sitting. The findings, part of a study involving more than 15,000 people, highlight how even small changes in daily physical activity can have a significant impact on health.
Just a few minutes of moderate exercise a day can significantly improve heart health, according to new research from UCL and the University of Sydney.
The study, supported by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and published in the European Heart Journal, is the first to assess the relationship between different exercise patterns and heart health over 24 hours a day. This is also the first evidence from the Prospective Physical Activity, Sitting and Sleep (ProPASS) International Consortium.
Global Impact of Cardiovascular Disease
Cardiovascular disease refers to all diseases of the heart and blood circulation and is the number one cause of death worldwide. In 2021, one in every three deaths (20.5 million people) will be caused by cardiovascular disease, of which coronary heart disease is the biggest killer. The number of people living with cardiovascular disease has doubled globally since 1997 and is expected to rise further.
For the study, UCLA researchers analyzed data from six studies that included 15,246 people from five countries, looking at six commonly used indicators to measure the relationship between exercise behavior and heart health throughout the day.
Researchers identified a hierarchy of behaviors typical of a 24-hour day, with moderate-intensity activity times being the most beneficial for heart health compared with the detrimental effects of sitting for long periods of time, followed by light activity, standing and sleep.
The team simulated what would happen if a person substituted one behavior for another every day for a week to estimate the impact of each condition on heart health. When replacing sedentary behavior, just five minutes of moderate-intensity activity can have a measurable impact on heart health.
Quantify benefits
For a 54-year-old woman with an average BMI of 26.5, a 30-minute change would mean a 0.64 decrease in BMI, a difference of 2.4 percent. Replacing 30 minutes of sitting and lying time every day with moderate or vigorous exercise can also reduce waist circumference by 2.5 cm (2.7%) or reduce glycosylated hemoglobin by 1.33 mmol/mol (3.6%).
Dr Jo Blodgett, lead author of the study from UCL's Institute of Surgery and Interventional Sciences and the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health, said: "The biggest takeaway from our study is that while small changes in the way you exercise can have a positive impact on heart health, the intensity of exercise is also important. The most beneficial change we observed was replacing sitting with moderate to vigorous activity - this could be running, brisk walking or climbing stairs - basically anything that raises your heart rate and gets you breathing faster, even for a minute or two."
Researchers note that while taking the time to do vigorous exercise is the fastest way to improve heart health, there are benefits for people of all abilities - it's just that the lower the intensity of the activity, the longer it takes to start seeing real benefits. For example, replacing a sitting desk with a standing desk for a few hours a day is a change that takes a relatively long time, but is easy to incorporate into your daily routine because it doesn't require any time investment.
Potential for maximum impact
The study also found that those who were the least active experienced the greatest benefits from switching from sedentary to more active behaviors.
Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, co-senior author of the study from the University of Sydney's Charles Perkins Center and School of Medicine and Health, said: "An important innovation of the ProPASS consortium is the use of wearable devices that are better able to differentiate between types of physical activity and posture, allowing us to more accurately estimate the impact of subtle changes on health."
Although these findings cannot infer a causal relationship between exercise behavior and cardiovascular outcomes, they add to growing evidence that moderate to vigorous physical activity over a 24-hour period is associated with improvements in body fat measures. Further long-term studies are essential to better understand the association between exercise and cardiovascular outcomes.
Professor Mark Hamer, co-senior author of the study and from UCL's Institute of Surgery and Interventional Sciences and the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health, said: "It may not come as a surprise that moving more is good for heart health, but the novelty of this study is that it considers a range of behaviors over 24 hours a day. This approach will ultimately allow us to provide personalized advice so people can move more in a way that suits them."
James Leiper, deputy medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: "We already know that exercise has real benefits for cardiovascular health, and this encouraging research shows that small changes to your daily routine can reduce your chances of having a heart attack or stroke. This study shows that just replacing a few minutes of sitting with a few minutes of moderate activity can improve your body mass index, cholesterol and waist circumference , and bring more physical benefits. Being active isn't always easy, and it's important to make changes that you can stick with and enjoy over the long term - adding 'activity snacks' such as walking while talking to your phone, or setting an alarm to get up every hour and do some stargazing are great ways to start adding activity to your day and get you into a healthy, active lifestyle."