1. Publication # 57
Exercise and the Heart
November 2009
Physical inactivity is a can benefit from exercise. Exercise also boosts the
major risk factor for cor- immune system, but only
Exercise can result in
onary artery disease. Ex- if it is done at a moderate
reduced body fat, and it
ercise is beneficial to the intensity, such as brisk
also gives the heart
body in a multitude of paced walking or other
muscle a workout,
ways. It can help you aerobic activity.
making it stronger. It is
relieve stress, lose weight,
noted that exercise helps The best way to reach an
maintain a healthy body
to improve heart health by ideal level of fitness and
mass index (BMI), and
making the heart muscle weight is to avoid high fat
even lower your risk of
stronger and larger. This foods, choosing plenty of
many chronic diseases.
enables it to pump more fruits and vegetables and
It is recommended that blood throughout the whole grains, and by
everyone get at least 30 body with each beat, and adopting a lifestyle that
minutes of moderate allows it to perform at its includes physical activity.
intensity exercise daily. maximum potential with
Children should have 60 least effort.
minutes of physical
It also helps keep the
activity each day.
arteries elastic. This
Everyone can benefit makes the blood flow
from exercise. Multiple easier, and helps to
studies have shown that maintain normal blood
patients who have heart pressure. This reduces the
problems, and even those risk of atherosclerosis and
who are at high risk for heart attack.
heart disease or failure,
The Types of Exercise
PBRC
Aerobic Exercises: Anaerobic or Strength Training Exercises:
Jogging Weight-lifting
Cross Training Sprinting
Swimming Jumping rope
Bicycling Isometric exercise
Walking
Flexibility Exercises:
Stretching
Inside this issue:
Special points of interest:
How is inactivity risky? 2
How you can benefit from exercise
Updated Physical Activity Guidelines 2
The effects of being sedentary
Facts About Exercise 3
Exercise Facts
About Pennington 4

2. How is inactivity risky?
Being sedentary correlates be counterbalanced by weight
with overweight and obesity, training regardless of age,
risk factors for diabetes, heart albeit at a slower rate.
attack, heart disease, stroke,
With weight training, muscles
high blood pressure, and
will grow larger. Strength can
many other health problems.
increase at any age.
It is advised that sedentary Men can cut their risk for stroke
individuals engage in an in half if their exercise program
appropriate level of physical is close to an hour of brisk
Inactivity is a major risk activity to increase general walking each day, five days a
factor for coronary heart conditioning before engaging week.
disease. in any high intensity
workouts, to avoid the risk of People who exercise often and
Sedentary people have a 35 do so at a high intensity, have
percent greater risk of being injury.
the lowest risk for heart disease,
diagnosed with hypertension Individuals who maintain an but all exercise is beneficial to
when compared to athletes active lifestyle have a 45 everyone.
and very active individuals. percent lower risk of Exercise improves heart health
Sedentary people are at a developing heart disease, and may possibly reverse some
higher risk of having type 2 when compared to sedentary risk factors associated with
diabetes, as well as heart individuals. heart disease.
disease. Aging related decrease in
muscle mass and strength can
Updated Physical Activity Guidelines
The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the American Heart Association (AHA) released
updated physical activity guidelines in 2007.
These guidelines are for healthy adults under age 65.
Basic recommendations from ACSM and AHA:
Do moderately intense cardio 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week
Or
Do vigorously intense cardio 20 minutes a day, 3 days a week
And
Do 8 to 10 strength-training exercises, 8 to 12 repetitions of each exercise twice a week.
Moderate-intensity physical activity means working hard enough to raise your heart rate and break a sweat,
while still being able to carry on a conversation. It should be noted that to lose weight or maintain weight loss,
60 to 90 minutes of physical activity may be necessary. The 30-minute recommendation is for the average
healthy adult to maintain health and reduce the risk for chronic disease.
Page 2

3. The Facts About Exercise
It is advisable to wait at least sprints and high intensity
one and a half hours after eating strength training such as
a meal before beginning an powerlifting. Other anaerobic
exercise program. activities are shuttle run,
pushups, sit-ups, soccer, tennis,
It is recommended that we con-
basketball, and sprinting.
sume water before, during and
after an exercise session to pre- Choose activities you enjoy,
vent dehydration and reduce such as swimming, biking, or
muscle fatigue. playing basketball with friends
to get your daily physical activ-
Exercise improves lipid levels, In 2009, a study performed at
ity. If you need variety of activ-
reduces inflammation in the Duke University* involving over
ities to stay motivated, combine
arteries, and assists in weight 2,000 men and women diagnosed
a few that appeal to you.
loss. with heart failure to see if
Flexibility exercises or exercise intervention would
For the maximum protection of
stretching: Stretching exercises improve their long term health. A
the heart, it is not the duration
should be done every day or as group of patients received
of the exercise session that
often as possible to prevent standard care (control group), and
matters; instead, it depends on
stiffness. As we age, flexibility the other group received both
the total amount of energy that
exercises become more im- standard care as well as exercise
is expended in exercise.
portant to help us stay limber. training. The patients received
The warm-up session of
Flexibility exercises can help thirty-six supervised exercise
exercise is used to reduce the
protect our joints by reducing sessions, and they were given
stress from the workout on your
the risk of joint injury, they also either an exercise bike or a
heart and muscles, and to slow-
help us during warm up before treadmill when they were re-
ly increase oxygen uptake,
strenuous exercise. Flexibility leased to go home and they were
heart rate, and body tempera-
exercise can also help during told to exercise 120 to 200
ture.
relaxation sessions to release minutes a week. After three
Aerobic exercise has the most tension from the body. months, the group that received
benefits for your heart. It can the exercise training felt better
Flexibility exercises can be
help decrease heart rate and than the group that received
done on exercise mats on the
blood pressure at rest, as well standard care. Over two and a
floor or in the pool.
as improve breathing. half years, those that continued to
Some examples of exercises exercise were less likely to be
Examples of aerobic exercise
that involve flexibility are tai hospitalized for any cause that
include: walking, jogging,
chi and yoga. was related to heart failure. Exer-
jumping rope, bicycling,
cising also decreased the patient’s
skating, and low impact aer- It is recommended that we do
risk factors for dying from heart
obics. Other aerobic activi- up to 15 minutes of flexibility
ties include, skating, mowing exercises a day.
the lawn, rollerblading, raking In addition to strengthening the
leaves, and playing with the heart, regular physical exercise can
children. reduce the risk of osteoporosis and
delay the physiological decrease of
Anaerobic, or weight training
bone mineral density with aging.
exercises build muscle. These
Research shows that regular
exercises last from a few
exercise for women of practically
seconds up to two minutes at
all ages is well advised.
high intensity. These include
P U B L I CA T I O N # 5 7 * April 8, 2009, JAMA Page 3

4. Heart Disease Prevention
Physical activity is effective in decreasing the swimming), " keep-fit " exercises, and strenuous work
incidence of heart disease. A large study in Britain (e.g., digging). During the study, 11% of the men who
assessed the level of physical activity and monitored participated in vigorous physical activities developed
the incidence of cardiovascular events over a two year coronary heart disease, contrastingly, 26% of the men
period of more than 16,000 subjects. The subjects who were in the control group developed coronary
were all male office workers aged 40 to 64 years of heart disease. Vigorous exercise protected against fa-
age. Vigorous physical activity was analyzed in those tal heart attacks and other first clinical attacks of CHD
likely to reach peaks of energy output of 225 kcal in throughout middle age. This study shows a correlation
30 minutes (corresponding to heavy industrial work) between vigorous exercise and the promotion of
creating a training effect on the cardiovascular system. cardiovascular health.
These activities included active recreations (e.g.,
About Pennington
The Pennington Biomedical Research Center is a world-renowned nutrition Pennington Nutrition Series No 57, 2009
research center.
Mission:
Authors
To promote healthier lives through research and education in nutrition and
preventive medicine.
Beth Kalicki
The Pennington Center has several research areas, including:
Heli J. Roy, PhD, RD
Clinical Obesity Research
Experimental Obesity
Functional Foods
Division of Education
Health and Performance Enhancement
Nutrition and Chronic Diseases Pennington Biomedical Research Center
Nutrition and the Brain
8/10
Dementia, Alzheimer’s and healthy aging
Diet, exercise, weight loss and weight loss maintenance
The research fostered in these areas can have a profound impact on healthy
living and on the prevention of common chronic diseases, such as heart dis-
ease, cancer, diabetes, hypertension and osteoporosis.
The Division of Education provides education and information to the scientific Pennington Biomedical Research
community and the public about research findings, training programs and re-
search areas, and coordinates educational events for the public on various Center
health issues.
6400 Perkins Road
We invite people of all ages and backgrounds to participate in the exciting
research studies being conducted at the Pennington Center in Baton Rouge, Baton Rouge, LA 70808
Louisiana. If you would like to take part, visit the clinical trials web page at
www.pbrc.edu or call (225) 763-3000. (225) 763-2500