Moving your body is better for your health than not doing it. But be careful, it would be too easy to leave it at that. A study recently published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) reveals that the time of day when one practices physical activity has an influence on the risk of cardiovascular accidents. Four researchers from CHUV and Unil, in Switzerland, analyzed the moderate intensity physical activity, i.e. sport, but also any other form of movement recorded by an accelerometer on the wrist, of some 2,000 people.
And they discovered that those who exercised mainly in the morning, between 7 a.m. and 12 p.m., or distributed throughout the day, had a greater risk of developing cardiovascular events than those who did it mainly after midday. And this, regardless of the quantity or frequency of this activity.
“For these two categories, we see an increased risk of cardiovascular accidents, that is to say heart attacks, strokes, angina or even sudden deaths,” explains Professor Pedro Marques-Vidal, co-author of the study. As for the factors aggravating these risks, such as hypertension or diabetes, no link could be highlighted.
Should we stop moving in the morning? “One hypothesis is that some of the people who exhibit this morning physical activity are in reality “not morning people,” explains Dr. Fabrizio Cominetti, also a co-author. Setting a pace that does not suit our chronotype may therefore not provide the expected benefits, and may even involve risks. Being active is important to prevent cardiovascular diseases, but if you have difficulty getting up in the morning, it is not necessarily recommended to go and increase your BPM in a gym or on a treadmill before breakfast. lunch”.
Physical activity remains encouraged
The study recalls that it is recommended to practice between 150 and 300 minutes (between 2.5 and 5 hours) of moderate-intensity physical activity per week, in order to stay in good health. In this category we classify activities more demanding than traditional walking, that is to say brisk walking, climbing stairs, cycling or any other type of sport, with the exception, perhaps, of golf or archery.
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