Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Risk

The benefits of physical activity have been proven in several domains ranging from mental health to cardiovascular health or even sexual activity. During the years, several tools have been invented in order to help the population to keep track of their physical activity. Not everybody knows that the well- known “10k steps per day” was a hugely successful marketing campaign launched ahead of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Although its foundation is not strictly scientific, this tool helped a lot of people in maintaining an active lifestyle. Several studies demonstrated that having a quantifiable daily objective improves behavioral changes better than giving general advice.

Adopting an active life-style does not mean spending 7/7 days in the gym. Although the benefits of muscle training are very well known to be essential for a good aging (use it or lose it rules applies here), having an active lifestyle comprehends much more. Your office is on the sixth floor? Choose the stairs over the elevator! Need to bring your babies to school? Let’s do a nice cycling session ! Aerobic exercises are shown to lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure, physical activity helps protect the blood vessels and lowers the risk of cardiovascular events and improves mitochondrial function. Our body is a perfect machine when used as designed!

As we know, each individual has his own characteristics. Logically, not everybody will have the same response to a certain type of training. Let’s imagine a 65 years old male that just had a stroke and never trained, no personal trainer would suggest training for a marathon the very next day. Based on that, lately a new approach is emerging. Soon, based on the subject's clinical history and data it will be possible to personalize the physical activity to speed the rehabilitation process and improve the prevention.