Over 20 million Brits are “inactive” and risking Heart Disease

Tom Finn

4th April 2017

Health & Fitness

Us Brits are doing ourselves no favours in terms of heart disease. According to The British Heart Foundation, over 20 million of us are at a higher risk than usual. It’s 100% our own fault too, as it’s linked to inactivity.

It’s time to sort ourselves out, since the average man will spend a fifth of his entire life sitting – that’s roughly 78 days a year . Inactivity is linked to cardiovascular disease and it costs the NHS £1.2 billion a year. Apparently, women are 36% more likely to be classed as inactive than men with a massive 11.8 million women, compared to the 8.3 million men.

There’s lots of amazing British outdoors to see. So get out there, stop sitting around! (Image: Nottinghamshire County Council)

Over 5 million deaths are caused a year by heart disease that are all linked to inactivity. One in ten of these are premature. When we say “inactive”, we mean anyone that just simply doesn’t for-fill the recommended daily exercise limit. It doesn’t have to be this way though, there are easily do-able ways to reduce this risk.

Morning Commute

If work makes it difficult for you to fit in some dedicated work-out time, then why not actually fit it IN to your schedule? Running to work if it’s close enough or cycling are both good ways to make use of your daily commute. Not only will it help reduce your risk of heart disease, it’ll also improve your mood. Try it!

Safety first, make sure you have a helmet. (Image: Biking Toronto)

Lunch Time

If you’re lucky enough to get a long lunch, then that’s a great opportunity to get the trainers out and make good use of that last half hour. Whether it’s a jog around the nearby park or whatever, just make it count. Heart disease won’t creep on you that easily if you can keep it up.

Whether it’s warm or cold doesn’t matter, just enjoy it. (Image: yourCardiff)

Invest in a fluffy friend

This will depend on your love for animals, but having your pooch there really makes the difference. Dogs are man’s best friend, and they also happen to be man’s best work out buddy at the same time. Taking your pal on a long evening stroll and having a good game of fetch will do you both a lot of good, mentally and physically.