Time to start logging more minutes on the treadmill — think marathon distances.
New research out Tuesday reimagines the rules for how much we should be exercising each week for heart health benefits, and it’s a lot more than we were previously told.
Guidelines from the CDC and other health agencies recommend adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity and do two muscle-strengthening sessions a week.
The new study suggests a weekly amount that’s three to four times higher to reduce the risk of heart attacks and stroke.
Adults should record between 560 and 610 minutes a week of moderate to vigorous physical activity, according to the research in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. That’s a whopping nine to 10 hours a week!
Looking at data from more than 17,000 UK residents, Chinese researchers measured exercise levels and VO2 max — the maximum rate of oxygen the body consumes and uses during intense exercise — to measure cardiorespiratory fitness.
Low cardiorespiratory fitness (how efficiently the heart, lungs and muscles deliver and use oxygen) is often linked to a higher risk of heart attacks, stroke and early death.
Participants wore a wrist device for one week to record their exercise, completed a cycle test for VO2 and had their body mass index, resting heart rate and blood pressure measured.
Adults who met the current 150-minute-a-week exercise recommendation experienced a modest 8 to 9% reduction in cardiovascular risk.
To acquire substantial protection (more than a 30% reduction), between 560 and 610 minutes of exercise is recommended — an amount that only 12% of people in the study achieved.
Those with the lowest fitness levels need an additional 30 to 50 minutes per week to gain the same heart protection as those with the highest fitness levels.
To reach a 20% reduction in cardiovascular risk, those at the lowest level of fitness would need 370 minutes per week, while those at the highest only need 340.
The researchers noted that the participants may have been fitter than the general population and that their cardiorespiratory fitness was estimated.
Nevertheless, their findings suggest that the 150-minute-per-week recommendation is the bare minimum to reduce the odds of adverse heart events.
A separate study looking at the impact of exercise on heart health found that women who reached the 150-minute target had a 22% lower risk of coronary heart disease — compared with just 17% for men.
And as women worked out more (up to 250 minutes a week), their risk was cut by 30%, while men had to log up to 530 minutes for the same benefits.
