Article

Current recommendations prescribe that every adult should accumulate
30 minutes or more of moderate physical activity in leisure time, preferably
every day of the week. The optimal intensity, duration, and frequency still have
to be established. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of intensity
versus duration of cycling on all-cause and coronary heart disease mortality.
DESIGN: Relative intensity and duration of cycling were recorded in 5106
apparently healthy men and women aged 21-90 years drawn from the general
population of Copenhagen, and followed for an average of 18 years. Total number
of deaths during follow-up was 1172, of these 146 were coronary heart disease
deaths. For both sexes we found a significant inverse association between cycling
intensity and risk of all-cause and coronary heart disease death, but only a weak
association with cycling duration. The difference in expected lifetime in
relation to intensity of cycling was calculated. Men with fast intensity cycling
survived 5.3 years longer, and men with average intensity 2.9 years longer than
men with slow cycling intensity. For women the figures were 3.9 and 2.2 years
longer, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that the relative
intensity, and not the duration of cycling, is of more importance in relation to
all-cause and coronary heart disease mortality. Thus our general recommendations
to all adults would be that brisk cycling is preferable to slow.

Langue : ANGLAIS