My Doctor told me I have a heart condition…so I should probably take it easy, right?
Posted on February 4, 2015
Physical inactivity is one of the major underlying causes of premature mortality in the U.S. according to the American College of Sports Medicine. Seven chronic diseases have consistently been shown to be associated with physical inactivity, including coronary artery disease, stroke, hypertension, colon cancer, breast cancer, type 2 diabetes, and osteoporosis (Waburton, 2010). As a matter of fact in 2008, the economic burden of heart disease and stroke precipitated by physical inactivity in the U.S. was a massive $448 billion (Data from Center for Disease Control, 2008). While the risk of sudden cardiac arrest is a more truthful risk of inactivity than activity, it remains prevalent risk for all individuals (Powell, Paluch and Blair, Physical Activity for Health: What Kind? How Much? How Intense? On Top of What? 2011).
The problem here is that physical inactivity is a MODIFIABLE RISK FACTOR for many heart diseases.
Surely we can blame the decline in physical active jobs, after all it is true that (Brownson et al. (2005)) highly active occupations have decreased by 30% from 1950-2000 while the percentage in less active occupations doubled over the same period.
Nevertheless, the effectiveness of regular physical activity is associated with primary and secondary prevention of several chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, hypertension, obesity, depression, osteoporosis and premature death (Warburton, Charlesworth, Nettlefold, & Bredin, 2010; Warburton, Nicol, & Bredin, 2006).
Perhaps you’re unaware of the actual definition of physical activity, as some people refer to physical activity as the same thing as exercise:
Exercise consists of improving one of more components of physical fitness such as conditioning while physical activity is defined by any voluntary body movement, produced by skeletal muscles, associated with the accomplishment of a specific goal in any life context that result in energy expenditure. This means that it does not necessarily infer huge amounts of expenditure and is not planned for a structured period of exercise. Small actions can make a difference so walk or jog or run when possible or stand rather than sit as much as you can. While physical activity is always defined as frequency, duration and intensity, it is particularly important for unfit and old individuals with heart conditions to focus on Frequency and Duration than Intensity. Consider starting your training with 5 to 15 minutes of walking 2 to 3x/week. For more information, send us an email.
Additional information on this topic can be found on the heart and stroke foundation website: www.heartandstroke.com/site/c.ikIQLcMWJtE/b.5263145/k.FA7C/Physical_Activity_Heart_Disease_and_Stroke.htm
