The Standard Exercise Guideline Cuts Heart Risk by Only 8%, New Data Show In A Nutshell Hitting the standard 150-minutes-per-week exercise guideline was associated with only about an 8% to 9% reduction in heart disease risk across all fitness levels, a reduction the researchers describe as “consistent but modest.” Cutting heart disease risk by 30% or more appeared to require exercise volumes roughly three to four times higher than the minimum recommendation, around 560 to 610 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity per week. A person’s cardiorespiratory fitness level independently contributed to lower heart disease risk beyond what exercise volume alone explained,...