Walking is good, but moderately vigorous exercise can improve physical fitness by more than 3 times

With the help of 2,000 Framingham Heart Study participants, researchers at Boston University looked at the health effects of prolonged sitting, walking and daily exercise

Exercise is healthy

Matthew Nayor of Boston University School of Medicine and his team conducted the largest study to date to understand the relationship between regular physical activity and a person's physical fitness.

Their findings, published in the European Heart Journal, come from a study of about 2,000 Framingham Heart Study participants

"By establishing the relationship between different forms of habitual physical activity and detailed fitness measures," Nayor said, "we hope our research will provide important information that can ultimately be used to improve physical fitness and health throughout the life course

Nayor is an assistant professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine and a cardiologist at Boston Medical Center, Boston University's main teaching hospital and the city's safety net hospital

People might look at a study that finds moderate to vigorous exercise is the best way to improve health and think, isn't that obvious? But your study is more specific than that, so can you tell us what you have in your work Any surprise or revelation?

Matthew Nayor: While there is overwhelming evidence to support the health benefits of physical activity and high levels of fitness, the actual link between the two is less clear, especially in the general population (rather than athletes or individuals with specific medical problems)

First, we wanted to know how different intensities of physical activity improved the body's response at the beginning, middle, and peak of exercise

We're also not sure if daily steps or sedentary time really affect optimal fitness levels

Second, our question was, how do different combinations of these three types of activity contribute to optimal fitness? Interestingly, we observed that, regardless of sedentary time, an above-average number of steps was taken per day , or those who engage in moderate-intensity physical activity, all have above-average fitness levels

Our third question was whether recent physical activity habits were more important than previous physical activity habits in determining current fitness levels? Interestingly, we found that participants had high activity values ​​on one assessment, while in In another assessment with low activity values, eight years apart, they had comparable levels of fitness, regardless of whether the high values ​​were consistent with fitness tests

With a lot of people these days wearing a Fitbit or Apple Watch to keep track of their daily steps, they might be thinking, hey, I walked 10,000 steps today! But it sounds like your research shows that while walking is valuable, it Is it different from exercising?

I think we need to be more careful with this interpretation

However, if your goal is to improve your fitness, or slow the inevitable decline in fitness with age, getting at least moderate exercise (through intentional movement) is more efficient than just walking at a relatively slow pace more than three times

Where is the line? For those wondering if they're getting enough exercise, when does exercise change from moderate to strict?

We used definitions from previous studies to classify a cadence of 60-99 steps/min as low-intensity exercise, while 100-129 steps/min is generally considered moderate-intensity exercise, and more than 130 steps/min is considered vigorous exercise

Can you explain in detail how your findings were obtained, with participants in the Framingham Heart Study?

Thank you for your question and for giving me the opportunity to thank the Framingham Heart Study participants

Do you have your own exercise program that consciously finds a balance between moderation and rigor?

Well, of course I'm not a competitive athlete, but I try to stay active as much as possible