From 2 to 3 times a week is enough only to clean some of them: to exercise more than 4 times a week instead would be able to literally clean the arteries. It is well known that exercise is good for the heart and the circulation. According to a new study carried out by scholars from the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, however, the real difference would be a much more frequent training. We talked about these results with Professor Daniela Lucini, Head of Exercise Medicine at Humanitas.
Exercise: the benefits for the heart
It would be necessary to practice four or five times a week during one’s lifetime to curb the progressive and natural stiffening of the main arteries that carry blood to the heart. This is the conclusion reached by researchers at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Any form of exercise reduces the risk of heart problems. But the right amount of exercise at the right time in your life could reverse the aging of your heart and blood vessels. The study, published in The Journal of Physiology, examined the physical activity of 102 people around the age of 60, relating it to the rigidity of their arteries and demonstrating that you can reverse cardiac risk with exercise. The U.S. researchers found that people who had exercised 4 or 5 times a week (30 minutes per session) throughout their lives had healthier central arteries, those that provide blood to the chest and abdomen. Two or three training sessions a week, on the other hand, kept only a few arteries healthy.
The opinion of Humanitas
“The ideal would be to go running at least 3 times a week for half an hour at a rate of 10 km per hour – said Professor Lucini: of course, to do this you need preparation, you cannot improvise. For people who are not trained or in the presence of certain diseases that do not allow you to make running your sport the advice is to walk at least half an hour a day, but more than 4 times a week, otherwise there are no benefits mentioned in the study.
