Exercise does not 'wear out' the heart faster

New research from Australia proves: people who exercise regularly have a lower total heart rate per day than sedentary people, which can prolong their life.

People who exercise regularly have a lower total heart rate per day than sedentary people, which can prolong their life - Photo: Getty Images/TTXVN

A long-held belief is that physical activity wears out the heart more quickly - much like a battery loses energy with frequent use.

But new research published in the journal JACC: Advances has completely disproved this. The results show that the opposite is true: people who exercise regularly not only have healthier hearts, but also spend fewer heart beats throughout the day.

Research by a team of experts at the HEART Laboratory at St Vincent's Medical Research Institute and the Victor Chang Heart Institute compared heart rates between athletes and sedentary people.

The results showed that athletes had an average heart rate of 68 beats per minute, while non-exercise people had an average heart rate of 76 beats per minute. On a daily basis, athletes only expended about 97,920 heartbeats, nearly 11,500 beats lower than the 109,440 beats in sedentary people - a decrease of about 10%.

“This is an impressive saving,” said Professor Andre La Gerche, Head of the HEART Laboratory. “Although the athlete’s heart works harder during exercise, the resting heart rate is significantly lower, completely compensating for and even reducing the total number of heart beats.”

Notably, the most physically fit people recorded a resting heart rate of just 40 beats per minute, compared to the average of 70-80 beats per minute in the majority of the population. So, over a 24-hour period, the total heart rate of this group was still lower, even when taking into account the exercise time.

The findings also disprove the notion that the body is a “battery” with limited energy and that exercise only depletes it – a notion even echoed by US President Donald Trump. In fact, the opposite is true.

“The fitter you are, the more metabolically efficient your body is,” explains Professor La Gerche. “Even if you do an hour of intense exercise a day, the other 23 hours your heart beats slower, resulting in fewer total heart beats.”

A low resting heart rate is not only a sign of fitness, but also predicts better long-term cardiovascular health, he stressed. Increasing safe physical activity improves heart function and reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Professor La Gerche concludes: "Just a few hours of purposeful exercise each week can transform the efficiency of your heart and make each beat more meaningful. This may even add years to your lifespan."

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VNA

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tap-the-duc-khong-lam-tim-hao-mon-nhanh-hon-20251002094910265.htm