Let’s face it. Despite the evidence that exercise is good for us, many of us in the U.S. are pretty sedentary and don’t get the exercise we need. According to The Heart Truth, 40 percent of all women do not list exercise as one of their “leisure” activities. Compared to men, women exercise a lot less.
Frankly, I understand that. Most of us have only a finite amount of leisure time. There doesn’t seem to be an abundance of true free or leisure time floating around in our day-to-day lives. When I do have down time, I want to spend it doing things I enjoy and exercise doesn’t bubble up to the top of that list! Personally, I’m more of a bookworm and couch potato queen than an exercise diva. Given the choice between curling up with a good book or getting outdoors on a Texas summer day to run in 110 degree heat, the air conditioning and good book will win every time!
The problem is that after so many years of ruling my kingdom (or is that queen-dom?) from the couch, my body pretty much looks like the stay-puff-marshmallow-girl. Plus, I’m post-menopausal and am beginning to pay a bit more attention to that internal tick tock life clock counting down my days. The older I get, the more aware I’m becoming that the time to take action to improve my heart health was probably yesterday and that since I procrastinated and read the book instead, I’d better take action today.
I don’t know about you, but my free time is precious to me because it’s in such short supply. If I’m going to exercise, then I want to make the most of the time I have available. While we all know that exercise is good for us and good for your heart health, I had to wonder if there were any differences in the amount of exercise that is required for post-menopausal women. Is exercise as beneficial for us as it is for younger women? Does our age work against us? If we haven’t been exercising all these years, have we missed our opportunity? Do we need to exercise longer? Harder? More vigorously? Do we need to exercise more frequently than younger women to gain the same heart health benefits?
These are valid questions. Many of us have not been active and the thought of embarking on an exercise regime can be pretty daunting, especially if the exercise needs to be vigorous in order to provide any heart health benefits. If I’m going to get moving to prevent heart disease, I want to know what kind of a ride I’m in for.
The Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study addressed some of these issues, specifically asking the question of whether or not walking would be as beneficial to postmenopausal women as more vigorous exercise. This particular study was unique in several ways. While many studies on exercise and heart health focus on men, this study specifically targeted postmenopausal women. All participants were between the ages of 50 – 79 years old. The participant pool for the study was particularly large consisting of 73,743 participants. Only healthy, ambulatory women were accepted as participants in the study. None of the participants had a history of heart disease, stroke or cancer at the start of the study. Approximately 16 percent of the participants were from minority groups.
Most of the women participated in the study for an average of 3.2 years. Results were tracked by the amount and type of exercise (walking versus a more vigorous type of exercise) they did in a week. The results were compared against newly diagnosed instances of heart disease. The study found that participants who engaged in walking only versus more vigorous exercise all saw about the same reduction of risk (12-40 percent) in heart disease over the 3.2 year study period.
This is great news for couch potato queens like me. Walking 30 minutes a day is recommended for improved heart health and that is certainly an achievable goal that even someone who is relatively sedentary can accomplish. One of the things that struck me is that the participants ranged from 50 – 79 years of age. I liked the idea that the study tracked women of many ages and not just ‘younger’ 50-something women. I loved that all women regardless of age group saw benefits to their heart health. One German study reported that those who engage in life-long exercise had a 60 percent less risk of heart disease than their counterparts. It also found that even those who got the exercise religion later in life (after age 40), still saw a 55 percent reduction in heart disease risk.
What’s the bottom line?
Prevention is the best medicine for heart disease and you’re never too old to see the benefits to your heart health from an exercise program. Those of us used to a bit less excitement in our exercise routine can still benefit from an exercise program, improve our heart health and help prevent heart disease. We just have to choose to get up off the couch and move – one step at a time.
Until next time, here’s wishing you a healthy heart.
Note: Please consult a physician before beginning any exercise program.
Sources:
How Much Exercise Do You Need to Prevent Heart Disease? Health.com, April 21, 2008, http://www.health.com/health/condition-article/0,,20188246_2,00.html
Manson JE, Greenland P, LaCroix AZ, Stefanick ML, Mouton CP, Oberman A, et al, What type of exercise prevents heart disease in postmenopausal women?, JAMC • 4 FÉVR. 2003; 168, http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/reprint/168/3/314.pdf
Evidence-Based Guidelines for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Women, The Heart Truth, www.womenshealth.gov/hearttruth/pdf/cardio_prevention.ppt