A brief run--say, for the train or plane---may help your heart, according to new research published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. This novel look at a group of participants in the behemoth Framingham Heart Study has discovered that the cumulative effect of short bouts of exercise of less than 10 minutes duration confers cardiovascular benefits equal to more prolonged workouts. The only catch: short bursts of exercise--taking the stairs briskly, jogging in place at your desk, running between meetings--must add up to the established heart healthy guideline of roughly 30 minutes moderate to vigorous exercise five days a week.
The finding that micro-workouts improve heart health magically transformed this study cohort of 2,109 middle-aged Americans from sedentary to active. When short bouts of exercise were excluded only 10% of men and 15% of women met the U.S. guideline of performing 150 minutes of exercise weekly. But when researchers broadened the definition of exercise to include physical activity of less than 10 minutes duration (and outfitted participants with accelerometers to monitor movement) they found 56% of men and 47% of women met the 150 minute weekly target.
This begged the question: do short bouts of exercise improve heart health? And the answer from this study is a qualified yes.
As long as participants moved for 150 minutes a week, those who met the target with multiple short bouts of less than 10 minutes of exercise showed statistically significant reduction in cardiovascular risk factors similar to those who reached the exercise goal with longer bouts of exercise.
This means you don't have to don your workout gear every day--and obsessively watch the clock on the treadmill--to keep your heart healthy. Walking briskly, heavy cleaning, badminton and golf were considered in this study to be "moderate" activities that support heart health; hiking, jogging, farming and shoveling were among activities classified as "vigorous."
The researchers used a strict measure of success that included classic cardiovascular targets: elevated HDL, lower triglycerides, reduced waist circumference and lowered Body Mass Index. Clearly, if you are training for, say, a half marathon the fitness target and program would be different.