Scientists have figured out exactly how much you need to exercise to slow your heart’s aging process

There’s bad news good news and there’s bad news.

The Bad News:  “More than 610,000 people die of heart disease in the US each year—accounting for about 25% of total deaths, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Each year more than 735,000 Americans have a heart attack and 28% of those are a second heart attack.”

The Good News:  There are steps you can take to slow your heart’s aging process, increasing the chances of living a long, healthy life.

The Bad News: The trade-off is that you really do have to go to the gym.

“New research published in the Journal of Physiology pins down the number of days a week a person should exercise to maintain the overall health of their arteries, which stiffen with age and, as they do, increase the risk of heart disease and heart attack. Very few people experience heart attacks before age 45, and the average age is 65. But the new study suggests a way to keep your arteries physiologically “young.”

The study considered that every human has different-sized arteries, and found that the smaller arteries rely on fewer days of exercise per week than larger ones to maintain overall health.

The takeaway:

Medium-sized arteries need two to three days a week of 30-minute exercising to minimize artery stiffening. But to minimize the stiffening of equally important larger arteries, people should be exercising four to five days a week.

The study

“The scientists came to their findings by examining a group of 102 people—all of them older than 60—who had exercised over the course of their lives. The researchers started by measuring each person’s artery stiffness, then grouped them into four categories depending on how much they exercised through the years. One group was for people who generally exercised less that twice a week. Another was for “casual exercisers” who were active two to three times a week. The last two groups were for people who exercised four to five times and six to seven times per week.”

“A lifelong history of ‘casual exercise’ resulted in more youthful middle-sized arteries, which supply oxygenated blood to the head and neck,” the press release states. “However, people who exercised 4-5 times per week also had more youthful large central arteries, which provide blood to the chest and abdomen, in addition to healthier middle sized ones.”

This work showed exercise training over a long period of time can slow artery damage and the aging of the heart; the researchers say the next step is to study whether it can also reverse damage and aging of the cardiovascular system.

Research published in the Journal of Physiology



4 thoughts on “Scientists have figured out exactly how much you need to exercise to slow your heart’s aging process

  1. What is “casual exercise”? My exercise class has cardio, strength training with weights and stretching. Is that good enough? The class is for seniors. So it is not too rigorous.


    • Linda,
      Wow- your exercise routine sound great!!! I would think it qualifies. The source for the article called it casual exercise if you exercise 2 to 3 times a week, no mention of doing what. From what I have learned through various sources, for cardio (what the study was about) you need to be working hard enough that your breathing gets faster, and your heart rate up.

      Liked by 1 person

  2. I think anything is better than nothing, but a more rigorous and hearty routine makes for a stronger and healthier body. I guess we all know that. Translating what we know to getting up off our rears and moving in the FAST direction – that’s the challenge for me. Great news but the best is to start YOUNG. I’m already out of that loop.


    • Sharon,
      I agree-anything is better than nothing. That is a philosophy of mine, rather than “if its worth doing its worth doing right”. If its worth doing, it is worth doing, even poorly. I apply that to exercise all the time.

      Liked by 1 person



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