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Heart Attack Victims Need to Start—and Keep—Exercising
March 23, 2009
While starting an exercise program is important to any heart attack victim, the real key is not only to start, but to keep exercising on a regular basis. So say a team of Swiss researchers, who report that long-term, continued physical activity is an important factor in preventing a second heart attack.
In an effort to gauge the effects of different types of exercise, and measure results when the exercisers ceased participating in regular physical activity, a Swiss team of researchers observed 209 heart attack survivors. Study participants were assigned to receive training in aerobic exercise, resistance workouts, a combination of the two, or no exercise at all.
Four weeks into the study, the researchers found blood vessel function to be improved in the three groups of exercisers, regardless of exercise type. As expected, there were no improvements in the control group who didn’t work out.
Researchers then requested some of the exercise group participants to stop physical activity. Within a month, all the positive benefits of working out had vanished.
This study, which was performed by the Clinique Valmont-Genolier in Montreux, provides just one more example of why exercise (such as gardening), when made a way of life, is so beneficial.
Topics: Health News