Women who want to reduce their risks for stroke do not have to engage in strenuous physical activities such as running marathons or doing intense aerobics. Results of a new study have suggested that moderate exercise, such as brisk walking and playing tennis, may be good enough for lowering a woman's stroke risks.

For the study, which was presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2014 in San Diego, researchers analyzed the data of more than 130,000 women in the California Teachers Study to find out how many had a stroke from 1996 to 2010.

Based on the information they gathered, the researchers found that those who engage in moderate physical activities three years prior to enrolling in the study, face 20 percent lesser risks of strokes than those who do not engage in any activity at all. Moderate physical activities range from thirty minutes of physical activity per week to more than five hours per week.

Study author Sophia Wang, a professor at Beckman Research Institute's department of population sciences in Duarte, California, said that the result of the study is surprising. "I was surprised that moderate physical activity was most strongly associated with a reduced risk of stroke," she said. "More strenuous activity, such as running, didn't further reduce women's stroke risk. Moderate activity, such as brisk walking, appeared to be ideal in this scenario."

Wang and her colleagues have likewise found that moderate exercise can help modify and mitigate the increased risks of stroke in postmenopausal women taking menopausal hormone therapy and suggested that women should include some type of physical activity in their day-to-day routine.

"The effects of physical activity and hormone therapy appear immediate and the benefits of physical activity are consistent in premenopausal and postmenopausal women," Wang said. "You don't have to do an extreme boot camp. The types of activities we're talking about are accessible to most of the population."

The researchers also found that women with diabetes have increased stroke risks but pointed out that further studies are still needed to identify the amount of moderate exercise that could help diabetics avoid stroke. 

Most of the subjects who joined the study were white but the researchers said that the results apply to women who belong to other racial groups as well and although the result of the study shows association between exercise and reduced stroke risks, it did not prove any cause and effect relationship.