Study exercise and training can regenerate the damage to the heart

Sport protects the heart and can even reverse existing damage

Researchers from the US have now found that enough exercise or exercise can undo damage to the aging heart. The risk of future heart failure is therefore reduced or even completely eliminated if the right exercises are carried out sufficiently in time.

Scientists from the University of Texas Southwestern and Texas Health Resources found in their current research that workouts beginning in late middle age help protect the heart and prevent future heart failure. The physicians published the results of their study in the journal "Circulation".

When people move around and exercise in old age, it protects against heart damage, and can even reverse it if people sitting in a sitting position begin exercising on time. (Image: Kzenon / fotolia.com)

How much sport a week?

In order to get the most benefit, the training program should begin at the latest in advanced middle age (before the 65th year of life). The exercises must be done four to five times a week and last at least 30 minutes. It is not enough to do the exercises only two to three times a week, the authors emphasize, citing the results of previous examinations. Based on a series of studies that the team has conducted over the last five years, the said dose of exercise is optimal, according to lead author Dr. Benjamin Levine. The exercises should be a natural part of the daily routine, similar to the daily brushing, the expert adds.

How was the training structured??

One of the weekly sessions includes a high intensity 30-minute workout, such as aerobic interval sessions, where the heart rate for 4 minutes exceeds 95 percent of the peak rate. Then three minutes rest. This process is repeated four times, say the experts. Each interval session is followed by a relatively low intensity recovery session. One day a week training can be carried out for one hour, which is carried out at moderate intensity (for example, tennis, aerobics, walking or cycling). One or two more sessions were conducted in the study each week with a moderate intensity, which meant that the participants got into a sweat, got a little out of breath, but were still able to have a conversation, explain the doctors on.

In the study, exercise sessions based on exercise testing and heart rate monitoring were prescribed individually. In addition, one or two weekly strength training sessions with weights or exercise equipment were conducted on a separate day or after a stamina session, the experts add.

The training should slowly be further intensified

Study participants slowly built up their training, starting with three 30-minute, moderate training sessions in the first three months, and reached their peak after ten months when two high-intensity aerobic intervals were added.

The study participants were between the ages of 45 and 64 years

More than 50 subjects participated in the study. These were divided into two groups, one of which completed a two-year supervised training and the other served as a control group, performing only yoga and balance training. The participants were between the ages of 45 and 64 years.

Effects of the training over a period of two years

At the end of the two-year study, the exercising participants showed an 18 percent improvement in their maximum oxygen intake during exercise and an improvement in the elasticity of the left ventricular muscle of the heart by more than 25 percent. If people sit a lot and do not move enough, this can lead to a stiffening of the muscle in the left ventricle. This chamber pumps oxygen-rich blood back into the body. When the muscle stiffens, the pressure is high and the ventricle does not fill up so well with blood. This is how heart failure develops. Levine.

After just one year of training, improvements were noted

Previous research by UT Southwestern found that left ventricular stiffening often occurs in middle age in people who are not exercising and are not fit. The experts also found that the ventricle remains high and elastic in competitive athletes. Four to five days of dedicated physical activity over decades are enough to give even non-competitive athletes the most of this benefit. In the current study, the researchers wanted to see if exercise can restore cardiac elasticity to previously predominantly sedentary individuals when they start training in late-age. After just one year of training, there was an improvement. However, the positive effects were surprisingly low when training started after the age of 65, the experts add. (As)