20 minutes of cycling can almost half your risk of dying from a heart-related disease: Study

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Cycling has always been considered one of the best forms of exercise. It promotes good health and gives many health benefits at all ages, like boosting the immune system, helping in the toning of muscles, aiding mental health, etc.

Now, experts have also revealed through a study, that it has many health benefits for better heart health and just 20 minutes of cycling can save you from heart-related diseases and even death.

Amar Singal, the Senior Interventional Cardiologist at Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute, New Delhi, highlights several studies suggesting the same.

A study conducted by the Purdue University concluded that regular cycling can cut your risk of heart disease by a whopping 50%.

Similarly, the Copenhagen Heart Study, which monitored over 5000 people over a period of 14 years, found a major association between high-intensity cycling and reduced risk of coronary heart disease death.

Cardiovascular diseases are responsible for over 30 per cent of the global deaths annually.

In India too, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of deaths today, accounting for more than a quarter of all mortalities.

According to the World Health Organization, insufficient physical activity is one of the ten leading risk factors for death worldwide.

While we count smoking as a serious health hazard, physical inactivity is hardly considered a life risk.

The WHO recommends that adults between the ages of 18 to 64 years should indulge in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity throughout the week.

A daily cycle ride of just 20 minutes is sufficient to achieve this target.

(With ANI inputs)