Cardiologists urged to include physical activity in the treatment of heart diseases

Physical activity should be prescribed as one of the main components of the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. This call was made by the American College of Cardiology in a scientific statement published in the journal JACC. The authors emphasize that people who switch from a sedentary lifestyle to a feasible regular activity receive particularly noticeable benefits. How much you need to move, why it is not necessary to take 10,000 steps, and how to choose a load for heart diseases — in the Izvestia article.

What does "assign movement" mean?

The advice to "move more" is familiar to many patients. But it is not always clear from it what to do after the reception: to walk or study in the gym, how much time to devote to the load and how to determine the appropriate pace.

The American College of Cardiology suggests including physical exercise in a patient's routine care plan. The appointment should take into account the diagnosis, symptoms, physical abilities, treatment goals and preferences of the person.

Physical activity complements the prescribed treatment. You cannot cancel medications or change their dosages on your own due to the start of classes. This is a scientific statement by a professional organization that summarizes the available data and suggests an approach to practice. This is not a separate experiment in which all participants were assigned the same workout and compared the results.

With this approach, the discussion of activity becomes substantive. It is important for the doctor to understand what kind of load a person is carrying now, what prevents him from moving and what regime he will be able to follow. For one patient, walking will be the starting point, for another, an organized recovery program.

Why Small Changes Matter

One of the central points of the statement is that a particularly large gain is possible when moving from almost complete absence of movement to regular activity. It is not necessary for a person to achieve athletic fitness first in order to benefit.

This principle helps to avoid the "all or nothing" approach. If you can't practice for a long time yet, a short walk can also be a start. The American Heart Association recommends gradually increasing the duration and intensity of activity, rather than trying to complete the entire weekly volume at once.

According to the World Health Organization, in 2022, about 31% of adults in the world — about 1.8 billion people — did not reach the recommended level of physical activity. However, exercise is not limited to exercise: it includes walking on business, cycling, homework, and outdoor activities.

Therefore, the question also concerns those who have never intended to play sports. Being able to add movement to a normal day is important for your health in itself.

Scientists have pointed out the benefits of strength training for muscle health

What happens to the heart

During physical activity, muscles need more oxygen. The heart starts to work more actively, breathing becomes faster. With regular, appropriate exercise, the body gradually adapts.

As the US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute explains, aerobic activity strengthens the heart muscle and improves its ability to pump blood. It also helps to control risk factors such as blood pressure, triglyceride levels, and glucose metabolism.

For a person, the result can be expressed in everyday things: it becomes easier to go shopping, climb stairs and do the usual things. The benefits are not necessarily accompanied by a dramatic weight loss or noticeable external changes.

An important concept here is cardiorespiratory fitness. In simple words, it is the ability of the heart, lungs, and muscles to jointly provide oxygen to the body under stress. It should not be confused with the number of workouts in the calendar: it also matters how the body copes with the effort.

The authors of the statement consider low cardiorespiratory fitness as a significant indicator of future cardiovascular risk, comparable in prognostic importance with traditional risk factors. However, this does not mean that endurance alone can be used to diagnose or assess all the risks of a particular person.

Is it necessary to go through 10 thousand steps

The familiar number on the pedometer screen is not the limit to which movement is useless. The ACC statement notes that for many adults, significant benefits are also observed with fewer steps, in particular about 5-7 thousand per day.

An additional context is provided by a systematic review and meta-analysis published in 2025 in The Lancet Public Health. According to its results, 7 thousand steps per day compared with 2 thousand were associated with a lower risk of developing cardiovascular diseases by about 25%, and death from any cause during the follow—up period - by 47%.

Scientists have studied the role of strength training for the body

It is important to understand exactly what the scientists were comparing. These figures describe the differences between the groups in the studies. They do not mean that each person, by increasing the number of steps to 7 thousand, is guaranteed to reduce their own risk by exactly the specified amount. The results may be influenced by the initial health and other lifestyle features.

Seven thousand steps are also not becoming a new mandatory standard for everyone. For a person with limited mobility, the appropriate target may be lower, and a trained adult is able to carry a greater amount of load.

In addition, the pedometer does not reflect all the activity. Swimming, cycling, and resistance exercises don't translate directly into steps. Therefore, it is inconvenient to evaluate movement by only one digit on the clock.

How to understand that the load is moderate

General recommendations for adults often include a guideline of at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of intense activity per week. The American Heart Association advises that classes should be distributed throughout the week whenever possible.

Moderate intensity means that the heart beats faster and you have to breathe more actively, but the person is still able to talk. Under intense stress, it becomes noticeably more difficult to speak due to rapid breathing.

Moderate activity may include brisk walking, some types of dancing, and quiet cycling. At the same time, the same speed will require different efforts from different people: preparedness and health status are important.

The weekly volume can be collected in parts. For example, 150 minutes is five half—hour sessions. Shorter travel periods are also taken into account, so the lack of a free hour does not make any attempt pointless.

For a person who hardly moved, this landmark may be the goal of a gradual increase in activity. And in case of cardiovascular disease, general figures do not replace individual selection of the load.

Scientists have reported a decrease in physical abilities before the age of 40

Why add strength exercises

The authors of the ACC statement recommend that most adults supplement aerobic activities with resistance exercises. This is a load in which the muscles have to overcome weight or tension: for example, when working with an elastic band, dumbbells, or their own body.

The American Heart Association's general guidelines set aside at least two days a week for muscle strengthening. The specific exercises and their difficulty depend on the individual's capabilities.

In case of heart diseases, you should not choose a large weight yourself or increase the effort dramatically. As with walking, an appropriate level of exercise, technique, and gradualness are important here. The very word "strength training" does not mean that a person necessarily needs a heavy barbell and intensive training in the gym.

How to make movement a part of everyday life

Watches and fitness bracelets can help you track your activity and notice changes. The authors of the statement consider wearable devices as one of the ways to support participation in classes, especially along with organized programs.

But the device does not decide which load is suitable for a person with a specific disease. It also does not eliminate everyday obstacles: lack of time, difficulties with movement, or lack of an accessible program near the house.

WHO points out that the opportunity to be active also depends on the environment: safe routes, public spaces, transport and working conditions. Therefore, supporting the movement requires the involvement of medical services and decisions outside the doctor's office.

For the patient himself, the feasibility of the plan remains an important condition. Preferences, schedules, and available activities should be considered from the very beginning. This is exactly the approach proposed by the authors of the statement, which is safe, individual and suitable for long—term compliance.