Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) researchers, in the largest study to date to understand the relationship between habitual physical activity and physical fitness, found that spending more time on physical activity (moderate to vigorous physical activity) and less moderate activity (steps ) and less sedentary time, which is reflected in greater physical fitness. These results appear online in the European Heart Journal.
“We hope that by identifying the relationship between different forms of habitual physical activity and detailed fitness measures, our study will provide important information that can ultimately be used to improve physical fitness and overall health over the life course,” said Correspondent Matthew Nayor , MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine at BUSM. He and his team studied approximately 2,000 participants in the community-based Framingham Heart Study who underwent comprehensive cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) for the “gold standard” measurement of physical fitness.
Physical fitness measurements were linked to physical activity data obtained with accelerometers (a device that measures the frequency and intensity of human movement) worn for one week at the time of CPET and approximately eight years earlier. They found that targeted exercise (moderate to vigorous physical activity) was most effective at improving fitness. In particular, exercise was three times more efficient than walking alone and more than 14 times more efficient than reducing time spent sitting.
In addition, they found that the longer exercise time and higher steps per day could partially offset the negative effects of sedentary lifestyle on physical fitness. According to the researchers, while the study focused on the relationship between physical activity and fitness (rather than health-related outcomes), fitness has a strong impact on health and is at lower risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer connected, and premature death. “Therefore, an improved understanding of methods to improve fitness is expected to have far-reaching health implications,” said Nayor, a cardiologist at Boston Medical Center. (ANI)
(This story was not edited by Devdiscourse staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
