A study investigating the belief that too much exercise can be bad for the heart has found that the heart’s structure and function does adapt to high levels of habitual physical activity but these changes stay within normal ranges.
The study, published on 13 August in the European Heart Journal, was carried out by researchers funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Leicester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC).
Data on 5,977 women (61 years) and 4,134 men (63) from the UK Biobank were analysed in this study.
Levels of average daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, vigorous-intensity physical activity, and total physical activity in these participants (which had been assessed by wrist worn accelerometers) were compared to measurements of the structure and function of their heart.