THE death of Italian footballer Piermario Morosini who collapsed on the pitch and died from a heart attack on Saturday has again focussed media attention on the cardiac health of well trained athletes.

The tragedy happened as Bolton Wanderers’ star Fabrice Muamba is expected to be discharged from the London Chest Hospital within days having recovered from a heart attack during the FA Cup quarter final with Spurs last month.

Runner Ged Clarke collapsed and died after completing the Reading half marathon on April 1.

Bournemouth sports physiotherapist Anne-Marie Samuel – a fitness expert at Body In Motion – believes media coverage could give the impression exercise is dangerous.

“Without downplaying the deep tragedy for family and friends, the tone of some of the coverage seems to imply that exercise is somehow bad,” she says.

“In fact, the opposite is true.”

Anne-Marie points to research that shows well-trained endurance athletes have 40 per cent less chance of dying from a cardiac problem on a typical day than their sedentary counterparts.

“You’re more likely to be hit by a bus than die of a heart attack while running,” she says.

“When humans sit for longer than 30 minutes, electrical activity in the legs shuts off, calorie burning drops to one per minute, enzymes that help break down fat drop 90 per cent, good cholesterol drops 20 per cent and insulin effectiveness drops 24 per cent, increasing risks of diabetes.

“The recommended 30 minutes of exercise a day is not enough.

“For many of us eight hours sitting at work every day is inevitable,” says Anne-Marie.

“Take every opportunity to get up and walk around the office when you can – stand up on phone calls and take the stairs, for example.

“Walking burns up to five times the calories that sitting does so keep moving.”