Older women may not need as much exercise as previously recommended: study

The message to women has been relentless: exercise, and be more active to safeguard your health.

But findings from a sweeping U.K. study suggest that middle-age women may not need as much exercise as previously recommended in order to stay healthy and stave off vascular diseases.

Current physician guidelines suggest that adults should be doing at least 30 minutes of moderate activity, at least five days a week.

The study of more than 1 million women in the U.K. set out to answer the question: How much exercise is just enough to protect the heart and brain, without wasting time or risking injury?

The women, age 50-65, were tracked for nearly a decade. Researchers looked at the amount of time the women spent doing mundane activities such as housework, gardening, and walking -- anything that slightly raised their heart rate or caused them to sweat.

The scientists found that those who reported “moderate amounts of activity” just two or three times a week had a 20 per cent lower rate of heart attacks, strokes and blood clots, as compared to inactive women.

What most surprised the study’s authors was that women who exercised more vigorously didn’t have lower rates of heart disease and stroke.

The study suggests that being active to improve heart health doesn’t have to be an “onerous task,” said Dr. Miranda Armstrong, an epidemiologist at the University of Oxford and the study’s lead author.

“The most important takeaway message from this study (is that) to improve your heart health, you don’t need to exercise every single day, it can be something you do a few times a week,” Armstrong said in an interview with CTV News.

Doctors say that certain levels of activity are optimal for keeping the heart in shape, lowering cholesterol and inflammation in blood vessels, and essentially preventing the formation of plaque that blocks blood flow. U.S. cardiologist Dr. David Frid said there’s no question that some level of exertion is beneficial.

“You need to do exercise, but how aggressive and how often you do it may not be as much as people continuously think,” Frid said. “As long as you are exerting yourself, you’ll get some benefit out of it.”

The findings offer hope -- and possibly motivation -- to the estimated one-third of adults who say they don’t exercise.

“I think sometimes women in this age group might be put off by the fact they have to go to the gym every day,” Armstrong said. “Actually, going out and doing some gardening and going for a walk will benefit them in terms of their heart health.”