Regular Exercise May Have One Major Benefit You Didn't Know About

Daily exercise provides many physical and emotional benefits including, helping you maintain a healthy weight, increasing energy levels, improving muscle and bone health, and decreasing the risk for chronic diseases (via Healthline). If you haven't made exercise a part of your daily routine yet, recent research offers another compelling reason to start.

According to a study published in February 2021 in the European Journal of Preventative Cardiology, people who live a more active lifestyle may lower their risk of immediately dying from a heart attack. Researchers collected data from 10 European observational cohort studies, and looked at participants who had a heart attack during the follow-up period, which was a total of 28,140 participants, and their health outcomes. Researchers analyzed the activity levels of all participants, placing them in groups: sedentary, low, moderate, or high. The researchers focused on how an active or sedentary lifestyle might affect the participants post heart attack. The collected data was adjusted for certain contributing factors including age, blood pressure, family history of heart disease, smoking, and sex (via Slash Gear).

Upon reviewing the data of 4,976 participants who suffered a heart attack and died within 28 days, the researchers found that 3,101 of them died immediately. The study found that those who had a moderate level of regular fitness had a 33 percent lower risk of instant death, and those with a high level of regular physical activity showed a 45 percent lowered risk, compared to those who lived a sedentary lifestyle.

According to the author of the study, Kim Wadt Hansen, M.D., Ph.D., of Bispebjerg Hospital in Denmark, "Almost 18 percent of patients with a heart attack died within 28 days, substantiating the severity of this condition." Dr. Hansen also stated, "Based on our analyses, even a low amount of leisure-time physical activity may in fact be beneficial against fatal heart attacks, but statistical uncertainty precludes us from drawing any firm conclusions on that point," (via the European Society of Cardiology).

Research continues to show how exercise is beneficial and how a sedentary lifestyle can be harmful. And because of this, the American Heart Association recommends most adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise in each week.