Just three minutes of brisk walking a day could halve the chance of a heart attack or stroke, a study has found.
Short but intense bursts of activity have been linked to significant reductions in cardiovascular disease among people who do not exercise, with women in particular benefitting.
Researchers found that there was a 51 per cent reduction in heart attacks among women who got just 3.4 minutes of “vigorous intermittent” exercise, such as brisk walking or climbing the stairs, each day.
These women also suffered 67 per cent fewer cases of heart failure, with an overall reduction in heart disease of 45 per cent, compared to those not exercising at all.
And even in those doing just 90 seconds of heightened activity on a daily basis, the risk of any heart problem fell by almost a third.
The benefits in men were less stark but still present, the research team from the University of Sydney said, adding that the metric could be “a promising physical activity target” for those unable or unwilling to exercise.
Men carrying out 2.3 minutes of exercise, which could also include carrying heavy shopping or other day-to-day exerting forms of activity but not “formal exercise”, reduced their risk of heart attacks, strokes or heart failure by 11 per cent.
Increasing the length of exercise to 5.6 minutes only reduced the overall risk by a further five percentage points, to 16 per cent, compared to those doing no activity.
The study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, used data from 81,052 middle-aged people taking part in the UK Biobank study.
Participants wore an activity tracker for seven days between 2013 and 2015 and had their vital signs and exercise levels monitored.
Some 22,368 people reported doing no regular exercise or going for a walk just once a week.
Their heart health was tracked for eight years, during which time 3.7 per cent of the group suffered a heart heart, stroke, developed heart failure, or died of heart disease.
Men’s risk was higher overall, with 488 out of 9,350 developing one of these conditions, compared to 331 of 13,018 women.
Women who reported between 1.2 and 1.6 minutes per day had a 33 per cent lower risk of a heart attack and per cent lower risk of heart failure.
Researchers said that “vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity may be a promising physical activity target for cardiovascular disease prevention, particularly in women unable or not willing to engage in formal exercise”.
They said that despite the results, which are observational, being strongest for women who didn’t exercise, the researchers said men should continue to engage in regular vigorous intensity exercise to lower their cardiovascular disease risk.
The findings come after a separate study by the University of Cambridge last year found that 11 minutes of brisk walking a day reduced the risk of an early death by 23 per cent.
