Less than an hour of weight lifting per week can reduce heart attack, stroke risk by more than 40%

As per a research study lifting weights for less than an hour a week may reduce your risk for a heart attack or stroke by 40 to 70 percent. The Iowa State University study was published in 2018 in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise journal.

Interestingly, the researchers had found that spending more than an hour in the weight room did not yield any additional benefit.

Coronavirus: Study finds Ayurveda and yoga effective in treating high risk COVID-19 patients

The study is one of the many research studies that have found the importance of physical activity in lowering risk associated with severe health complications like heart attack and stroke.

For the study, researchers analysed data of 13,000 adults in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study.

"Less than an hour of weekly resistance exercise (compared with no resistance exercise) was associated with a 29 percent lower risk of developing metabolic syndrome, which increases risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. The risk of hypercholesterolemia was 32 percent lower. The results for both studies also were independent of aerobic exercise," the study found.

Several research studies have worked on the benefits of resistance exercise on bone health, physical and even cognitive health of people irrespective of age and gender. But when it comes to cardiovascular events people often think of low impact exercises like walking, the researchers have said and have added that weight lifting is as much beneficial for the heart as it is for other purposes.

As per a study by researchers in Copenhagen, weightlifting provides more benefits to the heart health than cardio exercises. The team found that though both types of exercises are good for the heart, weightlifting has an additional benefit; it reduces the amount of pericardial adipose tissue, a type of dangerous heart fat. However, both the exercises reduced the level of epicardial adipose tissue, another form of fat that hampers heart health. The study was done on 32 individuals who were put in 12 weeks of weight training.

At least two nonconsecutive days per week of resistance training is a good rule of thumb, the American College of Sports Medicine says.

As per reports, weight lifting increases lean mass which facilitates the cardiovascular system to pump more blood. Subsequently this reduces the pressure on arteries and thus lowers the risk of fatal diseases.

"For people who are carrying a lot of body fat (including a big belly, which is a risk factor for heart disease), it can help reduce fat and create leaner muscle mass. Research shows that a combination of aerobic exercise and resistance work may help raise HDL (good) cholesterol and lower LDL (bad) cholesterol," researchers at John Hopkins say.

People who have a sedentary lifestyle, which is mostly sitting for longer hours at a stretch and having minimal physical activity are those who are at higher risk of developing health complications that can lead to heart attack or stroke.

Therefore, from researchers to health experts, everyone is encouraging people to include physical activity in their daily routine.

What this study found might encourage many as it says that only a few hours of exercise per week can lower the risk of severe complications.

Of the several risk factors that make an individual prone to certain health complications, few are modifiable. Similarly in the case of heart attack, there are certain modifiable risk factors like smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, physical inactivity, being overweight and high blood cholesterol.

The intensity and severity of these risk factors can be changed by modification in lifestyle habits; hence the name modifiable risk factors.

Inclusion of more physical activity, consumption of seasonal fruits and vegetables, keeping the weight under control, regulating cholesterol and cutting down on smoking and alcoholic consumption can minimize the risk of the disease to a large extent.

It is important to get checked for levels of cholesterol, blood sugar and other such elements from a very early age. Timely medical check up will keep you aware of what is happening in your biological system.

Apart from this, opting a healthy lifestyle like including more physical activities, cutting down smoking, reducing alcoholic consumption, switching to fibres and seasonal foods from junk and processed foods, being observant about the calories, keeping an eye on body mass index and having a peaceful mind are the keys to a healthy body.

The truth is no matter how lavish your life is, if it does not have discipline it will affect your bodily functions.