Repressed anger and feelings of hostility are also considered risk factors for coronary artery disease, and exercise can help your emotions, too. A study published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings in 1999 found patients participating in a cardiac rehab exercise program, who were within a month after having a heart attack, showed significant improvements in feelings of hostility, anxiety, depression and experienced a higher quality of life. A study from London found that the more you exercise, up to a moderate amount, the lower your risk. Extreme physical activity didn't cause any further benefit, but it did progressively decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes, a known risk factor for coronary artery disease. Last year, a study from Harvard that followed 12,516 men from 1977-1993 found that the men who spent the most total time exercising and who exercised vigorously had the lowest risk of coronary artery disease.
Researchers have a good answer for that.
Another Harvard study published last year found that it didn't matter if you exercised for a long continuous period or if you broke your exercise into multiple shorter sessions. Get up when ever you can and put in 5-10 minutes. It all adds up. A study published in the American Heart Journal in 1999 looked at past versus recent physical activity and the prevention of premature death and coronary artery disease. They found the reduction in overall mortality rates were associated with recent activity rather than distant past activity.