Not all exercise settings are created equal when it comes to cardiovascular health. This is the finding of a recent study that attacks the myth that people with "physical" jobs are healthy and don't need to move regularly in their free time.
Is all physical activity good for the body? Against cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer or obesity, it would be our best ally. But these protective effects could well vary according to the context: standing work (repeated carrying of heavy loads) or leisure. This is the finding of a recent study conducted by researchers at the National Centre for Work Environment Research (Copenhagen) and published in the European Heart Journal. This study shows that leisure time physical activity and occupational physical activity have opposite and independent associations with the risk of cardiovascular disease and in terms of life expectancy.
According to the WHO, for adults aged 18 to 64 years, physical activity includes leisure time, travel (walking, cycling), work activities, household chores, leisure activities and sports or planned exercise. This includes 150 minutes of moderate-intensity endurance activity or 75 minutes of sustained-intensity endurance activity per week. But the researchers say previous studies have suggested that occupational physical activity is linked to an increased risk of heart disease and mortality. But their results were too incomplete to explain why: was it because of the drudgery of the job or because the employees had an unhealthy lifestyle?
Leisure Time Physical Activity More Effective For Cardiovascular Health
This new study included 104,046 women and men between the ages of 20 and 100 who agreed to complete a questionnaire about their leisure and work physical activity. The responses were used to classify them into four categories: low, moderate, high, or very high physical activity. During a 10-year follow-up, the researchers identified 9,846 all-cause deaths and 7,913 major adverse cardiovascular events, both fatal and non-fatal: myocardial infarction (heart attack), stroke, and other coronary heart disease (which occurs when the blood supply to the heart muscle is interrupted or blocked)
After adjusting for age, sex, lifestyle, health, and education, the results showed that moderate, high, and very high physical activity were associated, respectively, with a 26%, 41%, and 40% reduction in the risk of death compared with low physical activity. In contrast, compared with low work activity, high and very high activity were associated with 13% and 27% risk of death, respectively. Similarly, compared with low leisure time activity, moderate, high, and very high levels of leisure time activity were associated with a 14%, 23%, and 15% reduction in risk of major adverse cardiovascular events.
Too Much Physical Effort at Work Is Doubly Harmful
"Many people with manual jobs think that they are fit because of their physical activity at work and that they can relax when they get home. Our results suggest that this is not the case," says Prof. Andreas Holtermann, author of the study. "Of course, these workers could benefit from leisurely physical activity, but after walking 10,000 steps during a household or standing for seven hours on a production line, they tend to feel tired, so this is a barrier. "The study did not examine the reasons for the opposing associations between work and leisure physical activity, but suggests hypotheses.
"Brisk walking will benefit by increasing heart rate and improving cardiorespiratory fitness, whereas work activity does not increase it enough to improve fitness," adds Prof. Andreas Holtermann. "In addition, work involving heavy lifting for several hours a day increases blood pressure for many hours, which is linked to the risk of heart disease, while short periods of strenuous physical activity during leisure time increase it only briefly. "According to the researchers, occupational activity should be reorganized to mimic the beneficial aspects of leisure-time exercise.
