A new study has revealed that significantly higher levels of weekly physical activity than current global recommendations may provide much stronger protection against cardiovascular diseases, including heart attacks and strokes.
Researchers found that adults who engaged in approximately 560 to 610 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise per week experienced more than a 30% reduction in cardiovascular risk.
The findings, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, challenge the traditional “one-size-fits-all” approach to exercise recommendations and suggest that personalized fitness targets could play a crucial role in preventing heart disease.
Researchers analyzed data from over 17,000 participants enrolled in the UK Biobank. The study group had an average age of 57 years, with women accounting for 56% of participants.
Volunteers wore wrist-based activity trackers continuously for seven days and underwent fitness testing to estimate their cardiorespiratory fitness levels.
Cardiorespiratory fitness measures how effectively the heart, lungs, and blood vessels deliver oxygen to working muscles during exercise. It is widely regarded as one of the strongest indicators of long-term heart health.
Over a follow-up period of nearly eight years, researchers documented more than 1,200 cardiovascular events, including heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, and atrial fibrillation.
While participants who met the current recommendation of 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week saw an 8% to 9% reduction in cardiovascular risk, the most substantial benefits emerged among those who exercised much more.
According to the study, individuals who accumulated between 560 and 610 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity weekly achieved risk reductions exceeding 30%. However, only 12% of participants reached this level of activity.
Lead researcher Ziheng Ning emphasized that the findings should not discourage people from following existing exercise guidelines.
He noted that the current recommendations remain evidence-based, achievable, and beneficial for overall health.
“Rather than being insufficient, 150 minutes per week should be viewed as a minimum effective threshold,” Ning explained. “Higher levels of activity appear to deliver additional cardiovascular protection.”
The researchers suggest that modern sedentary lifestyles may partly explain why larger exercise volumes provide greater benefits.
Prolonged sitting and inactivity can negatively affect blood vessels, metabolism, and cardiovascular function, making it harder for short exercise sessions alone to fully counterbalance these effects.
Another key finding was the role of individual fitness levels. Participants with lower cardiorespiratory fitness required approximately 30 to 50 additional minutes of exercise each week to achieve the same level of cardiovascular protection as fitter individuals.
For example, those with lower fitness needed around 370 minutes of activity weekly to reduce cardiovascular risk by 20%, compared with about 340 minutes among those with higher fitness levels.
The study’s authors believe these findings could pave the way for more personalized exercise recommendations in the future.
Instead of universal targets, future preventive healthcare strategies may consider factors such as fitness levels, age, lifestyle habits, and cardiovascular risk profiles when prescribing physical activity.
Despite the promising results, researchers caution that the study was observational and cannot establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship.
They also noted that the participant population was predominantly white and may not fully represent broader global populations.
Health experts stress that even small increases in physical activity can yield meaningful benefits.
Activities such as brisk walking, cycling, swimming, hiking, taking the stairs, and incorporating movement throughout the day can gradually improve fitness and heart health.
The study reinforces a growing understanding that cardiovascular protection exists on a spectrum.
While some activity is better than none, greater and more consistent movement may unlock even stronger long-term health bene
