Take a break: Squeezing a bit of exercise into your day can improve heart health. In addition to upping cardiovascular fitness, employees who participated in a special at-work exercise program for 3 months—averaging 100 minutes of treadmill exercise a week—reduced their blood pressure, total cholesterol, and “bad” low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol by the study’s end. They did not, however, see significant weight loss from the program. The researchers conclude that, if sustained, daily exercise for sedentary workers could decrease cardiovascular risk even in the absence of weight improvement.
Source: The American Journal of Cardiology, Oct. 1, 2008