In Hawaii, Native Hawaiians are 70% more likely than non-Hispanic Whites to suffer a stroke. Native Hawaiians also develop heart disease about 10 years earlier than people in other racial and ethnic groups. While there are many lifestyle behavior variables that have an effect on our health, fitness plays a big role in the equation of Ola kino.
With the high statistics of hypertension (aka high blood pressure) among Native Hawaiians, a big question of how often should one exercise in order to assist in the prevention of hypertension has been answered by new research.
Mind you, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends 2.5 hours of moderate exercise per week.
This new study followed 5,000 young adults (ages 18 to 30) for 30 years. The researchers found the chances of the participants to develop hypertension drastically declined if they managed to meet the minimum amount of 5 hours, or 300 minutes, of exercise per week.
That’s double of the 2.5 hours recommended.
Now we know that past research has show that past exercise can lower your blood pressure. Other studies also have shown that your risk of hypertension drops as you progression from sedentary through moderate to high intensity workouts.
According to senior author of the study, Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-domingo, “Teenagers and those in their early 20s may be physically active, but these patterns change with age.” She says, “The study suggests that maintaining physical activity during young adulthood — at higher levels than previously recommended — may be particularly important.”
In the study, those who performed moderate exercise for at least 5 hours were 18 percent less likely to develop hypertension than those who exercised less. They also learned participants who exercised at least 5 hours per week up until 60 years old lowered their risk of high blood pressure even more.
So if you’re looking to lower your risk of hypertension and curious about what it will take – you may need to up your workout time.
But wait, don’t stress out yet.
We are not telling you that you have to start doing 5 hours of exercise per week if you aren’t already. If you are looking to get started, make an honest note to yourself of how much you consistently exercise per week. Let’s say you exercise once a week for an hour, add one more day of the week into the mix. Or maybe you’ve been sitting at 3 days a week for a while, it could be time for you to bump it up to 4 days a week.
You have time and the best time to start is Now. You got this!
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