This is the least you need to do to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease (2025)

One of the first studies to show the impact of physical activity on heart health came from an observation in the 1950s that conductors on London’s double-decker buses had lower rates of cardiovascular disease compared with the drivers.

The difference was that the conductors moved about the buses all day, walking up and down the stairs, while the drivers sat the entire time.

Research continues to demonstrate that we do not need to hit the gym to lower our risk of cardiovascular disease.

A study published in the journal Circulation today looked at how much incidental physical activity was needed to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

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Researchers found that doing less than half the physical activity recommendations can lead to significant benefits. It does not have to be structured exercise, says lead author Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, from the Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney.

Meeting the physical activity guidelines of about 30 minutes of moderate exercise or 15 minutes of vigorous exercise, five days a week, can reduce your risk of death from cardiovascular disease by about 30 per cent.

People who have a cardiac event can reduce the likelihood of readmission into hospital by 25 per cent via exercise rehabilitation programs.

About 80 cent of Australians do not meet the exercise guidelines.

Only about 30 per cent of people who have a cardiac event go to rehab, and most who attend drop out before the end of the program.

We need to think outside the square and that involves looking at the type of activity the bus conductors did without second thought: incidental.

For the new study, Stamatakis and his colleagues looked at more than 24,000 adults who do not regularly exercise and who wore accelerometers for one week.

The accelerometers provided a detailed snapshot of any light, moderate or vigorous movement throughout their day, such as housework, work-related activity, active transport, carrying shopping bags or going up stairs.

The researchers followed up on the participants’ cardiovascular outcomes eight years later.

It is the first study to examine the dose-response association of incidental physical activity with cardiovascular-related outcomes.

They found about five minutes of vigorous intensity, incidental activity every day related to a reduced risk of a serious heart event or death by as much as 38 per cent.

“This is a tad less than half of what the World Health Organization and the Australian Government recommend adults should achieve each week — 75 minutes of the vigorous ‘huff and puff’ exercise,” says Professor Grant Tomkinson, from University of South Australia’s Allied Health and Human Performance.

“This is exciting news because it indicates that snacks of physical activity throughout the day can provide meaningful benefits to our cardio health and reduce the risk of early death.”

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The same reduction required three to four times as much moderate physical activity. For a statistically significant risk reduction through light incidental physical activity, people needed to exercise for more than 130 minutes a day.

It is, Stamatakis hopes, a more realistic way for people to reduce their risk of the leading cause of death globally.

“Going to the gym as someone who is not sporty can be very intimidating,” he says. “They think that everyone is watching them, everything they are doing is wrong and that everyone is laughing at them.”

Trying to incorporate some more huffing and puffing into our daily lives – for someone who is unfit, simply walking up stairs or walking more quickly on a flat surface will count as vigorous incidental activity – can be a game-changer.

While structured exercise remains “far superior” for health and fitness, Stamatakis adds that higher intensity incidental activity may act as a gateway: “In the future, with a little bit of support, they may decide to try more structured forms of exercise.”

Elizabeth Calleja, senior advisor physical activity at the Heart Foundation, says it shows we can bring physical activity into our day in different ways and still get the benefits.

Physical activity benefits heart health by helping to manage blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol. It improves blood flow and muscle health, reduces the risk of plaque build-up and keeps blood vessels strong and healthy.

“Obviously, the more intense you do the exercise, the shorter the duration, the more the benefits.” says Calleja, pointing out that we don’t need to do it in one burst. “Everything you do counts.”

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