Reacción a "The recommendation of 150 minutes of exercise per week should be higher for greater cardiovascular protection, according to a study"

This study addresses a highly relevant question: how do objective physical activity measured by an accelerometer and cardiorespiratory fitness (estimated as VO₂max) jointly relate to the risk of cardiovascular disease?

The study is methodologically sound for its intended analysis. It uses data from the UK Biobank with objectively measured physical activity—a significant strength compared to standard questionnaires.

One of the most interesting findings is that meeting the current recommendation of 150 minutes per week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity is associated with a relatively modest reduction in cardiovascular risk, around 8–9%, while reductions exceeding 30% would require considerably higher activity volumes, in the range of 560–610 minutes per week. Furthermore, the study suggests that cardiorespiratory fitness plays an independent role.

This aligns reasonably well with previous evidence, which already showed that cardiorespiratory fitness is one of the most powerful predictors of cardiovascular health and mortality. The novelty here is the attempt to quantify how physical activity and fitness interact using objective measures and joint models.

The results should not be interpreted to mean that current recommendations are insufficient or should be modified immediately. Physical activity guidelines remain based on a much larger body of evidence and continue to be appropriate as a public health goal. Probably, the most useful message is to consider the 150 minutes per week as an effective minimum threshold, not necessarily as the level of maximum cardiovascular protection.

The study also has certain limitations. VO₂max is estimated and not directly measured. Furthermore, activity measured by accelerometer is not directly equivalent to self-reported activity, on which many clinical recommendations are based; therefore, a direct translation cannot be made between the minutes found in the study and current guidelines. Additionally, this remains indirect and observational evidence (not a clinical trial).

Overall, the study reinforces an important idea: in cardiovascular prevention, perhaps we should not focus solely on “counting minutes of exercise,” but also on improving functional capacity and cardiorespiratory fitness.