Effects of Breaking up Sitting Time on Cardiometabolic Risk Markers and Cardiac Function Post Myocardial Infarction

Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is one of the greatest causes of mortality and morbidity globally, particularly in middle to high income countries. In the UK alone, it was accountable for 124,641 deaths in 2017. Further to this, CVD contributes to a vast economic burden, costing the National Health Service (NHS) £19billion annually. This is mainly due to a significant number of hospital readmissions following a first cardiac event (198,000 per annum). Following a cardiac event, an individual is therefore recommended to reduce their risk factors, including lipid profile, smoking status and physical inactivity, to reduce their risk of a secondary event. In healthy individuals, regularly breaking up sitting time reduces cardiometabolic risk markers. The aim of this study is to therefore observe if this effect is replicated in the cardiac population and thus whether breaking up sitting time will reduce the risk of a secondary cardiac event. Potential participants will be required to meet an inclusion criteria to take part in the study: aged 50 years or above and had a myocardial infarction within the past three months at the time of recruitment to the study. Participants will be randomised to each condition: 1) uninterrupted sitting; 2) sitting with intermittent standing and 3) sitting with intermittent light physical activity (stepping to a metronome beat). A number of physiological markers will be measured before, during and after each condition and analysed to compare the effectiveness of each condition. All measurements will be taken at the University of Bedfordshire Sport and Exercise Science Laboratories.