(Australia-NewsWire.Com, November 11, 2012 ) Victoria, Australia- Intense exercise might be better for the heart than a light workout, research suggests.
A study in the BMJ Open looked at baseline fitness habits over 10 years, including intensity and length of workouts. People who said they spent 2-4 hours a week jogging or walking briskly reduced the likelihood of getting metabolic syndrome by 35%-50%.
Metabolic syndrome is a variety of factors that raise the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Two of the risk factors are high blood pressure and obesity.
Of those who develop metabolic syndrome, 19% are inactive and 12% are described as very active, according to a report at ThePostGame.com.
A debate about the cardiovascular benefit of light vs. intense workouts has been raging for some time, said Dr. Eric Topol.
“Higher-intensity exercise does have a whole different impact on the body’s physiology,” said Topol, who also is a cardiologist and director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute. He noted that while performing intense exercise, a person’s heart rate is higher, blood vessels are more dilated and the cardiovascular system is working at a higher level.
Studies suggest a threshold of intensity must be passed in order to get changes.
Intense exercise might cause changes in blood pressure and in lipid and glucose metabolism, said Dr. David Maron, and that might reduce the causes of MS. Maron is a cardiologist at the medical center at Vanderbilt University.
Light exercise, however, still appears to have its benefits, according to a study reported in Circulation. Light exercise for 2.5 hours a week may lower inflammation that is thought to be a key cause of heart disease, the study said. The recommendation is to ensure a heart rate of about 120 beats a minute, along with 2.5 hours of light exercise.
“Rigorous aerobic activity is really the best,” Topol said.