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Higher levels of habitual leisure-time physical activity and faster walking pace are prospectively associated with more favorable heart rate variability (HRV) indices, including higher SDNN and ultralow-frequency power, in older adults.
For older adults, maintaining or increasing leisure-time physical activity and walking pace is linked to better heart health markers. Focus on walking at a brisker pace and engaging in regular leisure activities, as these habits are associated with improved autonomic function.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
After multivariable adjustment, greater total leisure-time activity, walking distance, and walking pace were each prospectively associated with specific, more favorable HRV indices, including higher 24-hour standard deviation of all normal-to-normal intervals (Ptrend=0.009, 0.02, 0.06, respectively) and ultralow-frequency power (Ptrend=0.02, 0.008, 0.16, respectively).
Why this rating
Large longitudinal cohort (n=985), 5-year follow-up, multivariable adjustment, but observational design limits causal inference.
Source
Physical Activity and Heart Rate Variability in Older Adults
Luísa Soares‐Miranda et al. · Circulation · 2014
DOI 10.1161/circulationaha.113.005361
cohort · n=985Cited 226×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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- Faster walking pace is associated with less erratic sinus patterns, as indicated by a higher short-term fractal scaling exponent (DFA1) and lower Poincaré ratio, in older adults.Good
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