Exercise Boosts Heart Health: New Study Debunks "Finite Heartbeat" Myth

“I believe that every human has a finite number of heartbeats. I don't intend to waste any of mine running around doing exercises,” - you may have come across this quote at some point. So, does exercise waste heartbeats? And do we really have a ‘finite’ number of heartbeats?New Australian research has delved deep into this popular belief and debunked the myth. The study found that exercise could actually save your heartbeats, not waste them. The findings of the study are published in the journal JACC Advances.Contrary to popular belief, the new study showed that fitter people use far fewer total heartbeats per day. This may potentially add years to their lives. The new findings bust the long-standing myth popularised by US President Donald Trump, that the body is a battery with a finite amount of energy and that exercise only depletes it.In athletes, the average heart rate is 68 beats per minute (bpm), while in non-athletes it's 76bpm. That translates to a total of 97,920 beats per day for athletes and 109,440 beats per day for non-athletes, around 10 percent less.“That’s an incredible saving of about 11,500 beats a day. Even though athletes’ hearts work harder during exercise, their lower resting rates more than make up for it,” Professor La Gerche, head of the HEART Laboratory supported by the St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research (SVI) and the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute (VCCRI), said in a statement.The study also found that the fittest individuals had resting heart rates as low as 40 beats per minute, compared to the average 70–80 bpm. Which means athletes use fewer total heartbeats than sedentary people, over 24 hours, even after factoring in the spikes from training sessions.“The fitter you are, the more metabolically efficient your body becomes. Even if you’re training hard for an hour a day, your heart beats more slowly for the other 23 hours. The net effect is fewer beats used overall,” Professor La Gerche explains.The researchers also emphasized that a lower resting heart rate is a sign of fitness and also a predictor of better health outcomes.Professor La Gerche emphasized that increasing physical activity safely can improve heart function and reduce long-term cardiovascular risk. “Exercise is strongly linked with improved mental health, longer lifespan, and lower rates of heart disease,” he added.Though events like the Tour de France, where extreme endurance is required, temporarily raise daily heartbeat counts, the benefits of regular, moderate exercise far outweigh any risks, Professor La Gerche said. “The biggest bang for your health buck is going from unfit to moderately fit. Just a few hours of purposeful exercise each week can transform your heart’s efficiency and help make every beat count. It may even extend your life by years,” he added.