Cardiovascular health benefits of some locally adoptable exercise techniques

Abstract

Many people in low-income countries are unable to access the much evidence based benefit of exercise on cardiovascular health because they hold the believe that effective exercise can only be done in the organized gymnasium. We compared the cardiovascular effect of riding bicycle ergometer, a commonly used gymnasium equipment with that of jogging and walking on the spot on a group of university undergraduates. The three techniques tasked the cardiovascular system of the participants after a single bout and recorded no significant differences (P>0.05) in their resting cardiovascular effects at the end of the twelve weeks of 2 hours/week exercise. We therefore conclude that in the absence of heavy gymnasium equipments, positive cardiovascular health benefits are derivable from the adoption of adequate intensity of walking and jogging on the spot.

Keywords: Blood pressure, Heart rate, Jogging, Walking, Bicycle ergometry