02 May Study Aims To Determine Optimal Lifelong Exercise Dose
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Thijs Eijsvogels
Thijs M.H. Eijsvogels, PhD
Department of Physiology
Radboud University Medical Center
Nijmegen, The Netherlands
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Dr. Eijsvogels: Regular exercise training is known to reduce the risk for future morbidity and mortality in the general and athletic population. For this purpose, national guidelines recommend to exercise 150 min/week at a moderate intensity or 75 min/week at a high intensity. Recent studies explored the dose-response relationship between weekly exercise volume and cardiovascular health and reported a potential U-shaped association, suggesting that high exercise volumes may attenuate the beneficial health effects.
The aim of the present study was to determine the relationship between lifelong exercise dose and the prevalence of cardiovascular morbidity in a physically active population. Therefore, we collected data in 21,266 participants of the Nijmegen Exercise Study.
MedicalResearch.com:? What are the main findings?
Dr. Eijsvogels: The average exercise volume was calculated for an average timespan of 32 years. Interestingly, performance of exercise volumes below the recommended dose significantly reduced the risk for cardiovascular morbidity. Moreover, the optimal exercise dose was equal with the recommended dose and resulted in a reduction of cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular risk factors prevalence of 69% and 64% respectively. Higher exercise doses did not result in larger health benefits, and the present study did not find any evidence of a U-shaped curve.
MedicalResearch.com: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?
Dr. Eijsvogels: Any dose of exercise is healthier than physical inactivity and findings from our study do not support the “too much exercise hypothesis”. Furthermore, exercise doses below current guideline recommendations also reduce the risk for cardiovascular morbidity and these findings may stimulate inactive and vulnerable populations to change their lifestyle and start with performance of low exercise doses.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Dr. Eijsvogels: Findings from this study strongly support a curvilinear relationship between exercise patterns and cardiovascular health. A similar – but inversed – pattern has been identified for sitting time. Future studies are warranted to find the optimal balance between physical activity and sitting time/duration to determine the lowest future cardiovascular risk.
MedicalResearch.com: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Dr. Eijsvogels:
MedicalResearch.com: Thank you for your contribution to the MedicalResearch.com community.
Citation:
Lifelong Exercise Patterns and Cardiovascular Health
Maessen, Martijn F.H. et al.
Mayo Clinic Proceedings , Volume 0 , Issue 0 ,
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2016.02.028
Published Online:April 29, 2016
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Last Updated on May 2, 2016 by Marie Benz MD FAAD