Past studies have indicated that the recommended 150 minutes per week of moderate to vigorous physical activity is lower than the optimal level. Here find another such study, in this case recommending something more like 600 minutes per week. Humans evolved in an environment of considerably more physical activity than is undertaken by people in wealthier regions of the world. This is an age of comfort and machineries of transportation, and the consequence difference in rates of age-related cardiovascular disease between relatively wealthy populations versus hunter-gatherers is sizable.
Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) are established, independent predictors of cardiovascular health. Current guidelines universally recommend ≥150 min/week of MVPA, yet whether this generic threshold confers equivalent cardiovascular protection across different fitness levels remains unclear.
In a large accelerometer-based cohort with estimated CRF, meeting the current 150 min/week guideline was associated with a consistent but modest reduction in composite cardiovascular disease risk of approximately 8%-9% across low-fitness to high-fitness stratifications. Achieving substantial cardiovascular protection (of more than a 30% risk reduction) required MVPA volumes 3-4 times higher than current minimum recommendations (~560-610 min/week), with low-fitness individuals needing slightly more MVPA than high-fitness peers to attain comparable relative benefits.
Thus current MVPA guidelines provide a universal but modest safety margin, whereas optimal cardiovascular protection may require substantially higher activity volumes.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2025-111351
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