Sedentary lifestyle along with high blood pressure,
abnormal values for blood lipids, smoking, and obesity
are recognized risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and
for many other chronic diseases, such as diabetes,
osteoporosis, breast and colon cancer. Several studies
conducted on large cohort of individuals have
documented the protective effects of physical activity for
both vascular and nonvascular syndromes.
Exercise training is an integral part of cardiac
rehabilitation, a complex therapeutic approach, effective
both in young and elderly patients. Despite the number of
evidences underling the benefits associated with physical
fitness, the cardiac rehabilitation is still an underused
medical resource.
The molecular mechanism behind physical activity
protective effect is presently unresolved, and further
studies are also needed to establish the best protocol in
terms of specificity, volume and duration of the training
