Regular walking can cut the risk of a heart attack by 73 percent and gardening on a regular basis can reduce the chances of such an attack by 66 percent -- compared to individuals who avoid moderate-intensity physical activities, researchers say.
So what's regular? 30 minutes or more of physical activity on most days, according to the American College of Sports Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control and Invention.
Writing in the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers looked at more than 880 individuals to determine how moderate-intensity activities may affect heart attack risk.
"In this study, participation in moderate-intensity LTPA [leisure-time physical activities] was associated with a reduced risk of PCA [primary cardiac arrest]," the authors explain. "When performed for more than 60 min per week, walking for exercise or gardening was associated with a similar risk reduction to that of high-intensity LTPA." The researchers say they didn't measure all home-related activities such as repair and walking for pleasure.
