If you can't walk much, here's how to exercise to help reduce your risk of heart disease.

Exercise not only helps you stay in shape, it can also help reduce your risk of developing heart disease. Researchers at Iowa State University (USA), in a large-scale supervised exercise trial, discovered a unique way to exercise so that people who cannot walk much can still significantly reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease, according to the research news site Study Finds.

Many factors increase the risk of cardiovascular disease

The study looked at the effects of different types of exercise on heart health. While aerobic exercise (like walking) reduced the risk, the study compared the effects of this exercise to resistance training (like weight training) and a combination of both.

“If you have joint pain that makes walking or running difficult, our research suggests that you can replace half of your walking with weight training,” study leader Duck-chul Lee, a professor of kinesiology at Iowa State University, said in a university news release. “This combination is perfect for reaping the same benefits in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.”

This combination also offers some other unique health benefits, such as improved muscle tone.

Researchers analyzed data from 406 participants between the ages of 35 and 70, all of whom were overweight or obese.

Participants were divided into four groups: No exercise; Aerobic exercise only (like walking); Resistance exercise only (like weight lifting) or a combination of aerobic and resistance exercise. For one year, those in the exercise group followed their workouts three times a week under supervision.

Participants also followed a diet that helped prevent high blood pressure.

Walking combined with weight lifting is enough to reduce your risk of heart disease.

Researchers measured key risk factors for cardiovascular disease in participants — including systolic blood pressure, bad cholesterol, fasting blood sugar and body fat percentage — to gauge their risk of cardiovascular disease at the beginning, middle and end of the trial.

The results found that both the aerobic exercise group and the combined exercise group significantly reduced body fat and reduced the risk of cardiovascular disease, according to Study Finds.

This suggests that if you can't walk much, just walking some and adding weight training is enough to reduce your risk of heart disease.

However, resistance exercise alone (weight lifting) is less effective in preventing cardiovascular disease.

Additionally, the results showed that those in the aerobic exercise group improved their maximum oxygen concentration — a measure of aerobic fitness — while the resistance exercise group improved their muscle strength. The combination exercise group improved in both areas, according to Study Finds.

Professor Lee aims to delve further into the ideal “dose” of resistance exercise in an upcoming study.

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