The Most Important Exercise Advice May Be the Simplest We have quite the bubble here... many are running sub-3 marathons... some much more than that... but the reality for most people is that they average 4-5k steps/day. I love when the science catches up to what we’ve observed in the office for decades. It’s always been clear that those who are able to move the most… thrive. Far better than those who are sedentary. And oftentimes… any movement works. The American College of Cardiology just published a new scientific statement on exercise prescription. The central message is simple: the biggest cardiovascular benefit often comes from going from doing nothing to doing something. The relationship between physical activity and cardiovascular risk is not linear. The largest absolute risk reduction occurs when a sedentary person becomes modestly active. More activity can add benefit, but the gains become smaller as volume rises. The statement still recommends at least 150 minutes per week of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, along with resistance training for most adults. But it also emphasizes that some movement is better than none, and that exercise should be safe, individualized, achievable, and sustainable. It also reinforces another important point: meeting an exercise target doesn't fully offset spending most of the rest of the day sitting. You can train in the morning and still be highly sedentary afterward. Meaningful benefit appears at lower levels than the ever-present 10,000 steps per day we see online. Observational data link around 7,000 steps per day to substantial reductions in cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. The bottom line: move more, sit less, lift something regularly, and choose a level you can keep doing… even on your worst day. h/t to @EricTopol, who posted this article first. , jacc.org/doi/10.1016/j.jacc.…