Does exercise help prevent heart disease?

Does exercise help prevent heart disease?

There have been many studies over the years that have associated a healthy amount of exercise with a lower risk of heart disease. From the Harvard Physicians' study, to Mr. Fit, many studies have looked at people who engage in physical activity and compared them to who don't. There's no question that being physically active is good for us in many ways, and one of the ways is helping reduce our risk of heart disease. Being vigorously active is particularly beneficial, and in the Harvard Physicians' study, it was vigorous physical activity that gave you the greatest benefit. That allowed you to say, "For every hour I exercise, I'll actually gain two hours of longevity - I'll live two hours longer". Even lower levels of exercise are of benefit to us. We think that people should all exercise at least thirty minutes on most, if not all, days of the week. Unfortunately, very few people in this country actually get leisure time physical activity. The better-educated get more. We have a misdistribution of exercise by ethnic groups. Leisure time physical activity is a great lack in terms of peoples' lifestyle, and one that - while it's not always easy to build in, in terms of schedule - can be built in and has a big benefit in terms of preventing heart disease.