An average of four minutes of incidental vigorous physical activity a day could almost halve the risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attacks for middle-aged women who do not engage in structured exercise, a recent study suggests. High-intensity physical activity that forms part of a daily routine is known as “vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity”(VILPA). Longer sessions of VILPA were linked to significantly lower cardiovascular disease risk. The researchers say that, given fewer than 20% of middle-aged or older adults engage in regular structured exercise, engaging in VILPA could be a good alternative.

As a starting point, it could be as simple as incorporating, throughout the day, a few minutes of activities like stair climbing, carrying shopping, uphill walking, playing tag with a child or pet, or either uphill or power walking, the authors suggest.

The study drew on data from 22,368 participants (13,018 women and 9,350 men) ages 40–79 who reported they did not engage in regular structured exercise. The data were collected from the UK Biobank, whose participants wore physical activity trackers for almost 24 hours a day for 7 days between 2013 and 2015.

After adjusting for factors such as lifestyle, socioeconomic status, cardiovascular health, co-existing conditions, and ethnicity, the researchers found that the more VILPA women did, the lower their risk of a major cardiovascular event. Women who averaged 3.4 minutes of VILPA daily were 45% less likely to experience a major cardiovascular event. They were also 51%  less likely to have a heart attack and 67% less likely to develop heart failure than women who did no VILPA.

Even when amounts of daily VILPA were lower than 3.4 minutes, they were still linked to lower cardiovascular event risk. A minimum of 1.2 to 1.6 minutes of VILPA per day was associated with a 30% lower risk of total major cardiovascular events, a 33%  lower risk of heart attack, and a 40% lower risk of heart failure.

However, men reaped fewer benefits from tiny bursts of VILPA. Those who averaged 5.6 minutes daily were only 16% less likely to experience a major cardiovascular event compared with men who did none. A minimum of 2.3 minutes per day was associated with only an 11%  risk reduction.

To download the full study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, click here