What’s the Minimum Dose of Exercise to Keep Heart Healthy?
Heart muscles and blood vessels get weaker with age. Learn how much you should exercise to keep your heart healthy as you get older.
Ben Greenfield
In the episode What’s the Minimum Amount of Exercise You Can Do?, I close by saying:
“So it turns out that you can exercise as little as 15 minutes a day to stay healthy, as little as 30 minutes a day to stay fit and lean, and that you don’t get any extra benefit once you exceed 90 minutes per day.”
But it turns out that this may not necessarily be the case, or at least not for everyone.
In a recent study entitled “Impact of lifelong exercise ‘dose’ on left ventricular compliance and distensibility,” researchers looked at 102 seniors with an average age of 70 and found a significant health and cardiovascular advantage in individuals who exercised 4-5 times per week for 30 minutes or more.
Specifically, blood vessels gets stiffer with age, which can cause cardiovascular issues such high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation, and eventual heart failure. The more athletic and active older individuals were, the less stiff their hearts and blood vessels were.
In other words, low doses of exercise may not be enough when it comes to having a truly healthy heart as you age, especially compared to 4 to 5, 30-minute exercise sessions per week.
If you have more questions about the minimum effective dose of exercise, then join the conversation over at Facebook GetFitGuy!
About the Author
Ben Greenfield received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from University of Idaho in sports science and exercise physiology; personal training and strength and conditioning certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA); a sports nutrition certification from the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN), an advanced bicycle fitting certification from Serotta. He has over 11 years’ experience in coaching professional, collegiate, and recreational athletes from all sports, and as helped hundreds of clients achieve weight loss and fitness success.