Every week, the authorities remind you that at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity should be done to protect your heart. But a large study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicinebased on data from the UK Biobank cohort, suggests that this threshold would only be a start if we aim for maximum protection.
560 to 610 minutes of exercise per week to reduce your cardio risk by more than 30%
Researchers from the Polytechnic University of Macau followed 17,088 adults for 7.8 years, measuring cardiorespiratory activity and fitness using a bracelet and cycling test. The participants included, aged on average 57 years, wore a sensor for seven days and performed an exercise test to estimate their VO2 max, an indicator of cardiorespiratory fitness. Data on smoking, alcohol consumption, perceived health and diet, body mass index, resting heart rate and blood pressure were also included in the analysis. A total of 1,233 cardiovascular events were recorded, including atrial fibrillations, heart attacks, heart failures and strokes.
The authors find that 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity only reduces cardiovascular risk by about 8 to 9 percent. To exceed 30% reduction, they estimate it takes 560 to 610 minutes per week. However, only 12% of study participants achieved this level of physical activity. Less fit people need to add 30 to 50 minutes compared to those in good physical condition to obtain equivalent results.
For example, in order to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events by 20%, 370 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity were required for individuals with the lowest fitness, while those with the best fitness required 340 minutes.
Quadruple your physical activity: an optimal goal, not a new obligation
According to the authors of the study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine“Current guidelines for moderate to vigorous physical activity provide a universal but modest margin of safety, while optimal cardiovascular protection may require considerably higher volumes of activity” before adding that
“Future recommendations may need to distinguish between the minimum volume of moderate to vigorous exercise required for a basic margin of safety and the significantly higher volumes needed for optimal cardiovascular risk reduction.“.
For Aiden Doherty, professor of biomedical informatics at the University of Oxford, requiring more than an hour and twenty minutes per day would be unrealistic, and the figure of 560 to 610 minutes remains approximate. He insists:
“This work clearly contributes to supporting the evidence demonstrating the importance of physical activity. However, the proposed objective is misguided. The public should continue to aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity per week; the more you do, the better; every movement counts“.
How to use these numbers without getting discouraged
For a sedentary person, the first step is to reach 150 minutes per week, for example five times 30 minutes of brisk walking. Remember that according to the study, practicing 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity, regardless of your fitness level, is already associated with a reduction of approximately 8 to 9% in the risk of cardiovascular disease. People who are able to engage in more physical activity will have an even lower risk. The ideal remains to gradually lengthen the sessions and to set progressive objectives defined with the help of a caregiver.