A single healthy swap lowers your risk of dying from heart-related issues by 39%: study

Have a change of heart.Research shows a simple swap in your daily life could keep your heart healthy.That’s important when every 34 seconds, someone in the US dies of heart disease.It’s the leading cause of death across sexes and racial groups in this country.One of the biggest risk factors is not getting enough exercise — and most adults don’t get enough.

Official recommendations call for 75 to 150 minutes of physical exercise a week.That’s why, in recent years, experts have been looking more into what’s called a micro-workout or exercise snack.These don’t ask people to carve out time to change, drive to the gym, and do a dedicated workout — it’s all about adding more movement to your everyday life.Take the simple swap of taking the stairs over the elevator, which this new research examines.“Taking the stairs is a practical and often overlooked way to build physical activity into daily life,” said author Vassilios Vassiliou.“Choosing to take the stairs offers a realistic, scalable intervention.”Vassiliou and his team looked at data from nine studies involving almost half a million participants.They found that people who often climbed stairs had a 39% lower risk of dying from heart-related issues, and 24% less likely to die from any cause, compared to people who didn’t climb the stairs often.You don’t need 20 minutes on a StairMaster.Researchers believe that adding just six flights of stairs (60-70 stairs) — which should take less than three minutes — can decrease risk of heart disease.More is better, they found, but adding any additional movement has benefits.“Even one- to two-minute bursts of movement performed several times throughout the day can add up and may be associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular events and death,” cardiologist Paul Drury told Medical News Today.Stair climbing is a vigorous exercise, and a great way to do “sprint interval exercise.” Just make sure to start slow for a few minutes to warm...