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Benefits of Pumping Iron
By Dr. Narinder Saini M.D.
Given the independent results from weight training,
the researchers theorized that adding weight training
to a high-intensity exercise program would reap even greater
benefits. The study appears in this week’s Journal of
the American Medical Association. It is based on medical
records and questionnaires given periodically to 44,452
health professionals from 1986 to 1998. Participants were
ages 40 to 75 at the outset.
Heart disease was ultimately diagnosed in 1,700 participants.
Men who ran for an hour or more weekly at 6 mph or more
were 42 percent less likely to develop heart disease than
non-runners. Men who did brisk walking at a moderate pace
of at least 3 mph for at least a half hour daily were
18 percent less likely to develop heart disease than those
who did not. There were no significant heart benefits
found from low-intensity walking.
“The more exercise you do and the higher intensity seems
to be better with regard to cardiovascular protection,”
said Dr. Gerald Fletcher, an American Heart Association
spokesman and cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville,
Fla.
He said the findings correspond with AHA guidelines, which
recommend aerobic exercise at least six days a week and
weight-training two or three times weekly. |
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