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A recent study reveals that men may require nearly double the weekly exercise compared to women to gain equivalent heart health benefits. As researchers have increasingly scrutinized the optimal exercise levels for meaningful outcomes, this new evidence highlights a striking gender disparity. Men must exert twice the effort to match women's cardiovascular disease prevention.
This discovery underscores significant sex-specific variations in exercise's impact on cardiovascular health. While the standard recommendation is at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity weekly, women achieved substantial risk reduction with about 250 minutes, whereas men required roughly 530 minutes for comparable protection.
Researchers examined data from over 85,000 U.K. Biobank participants to identify sex-based differences in physical activity and coronary heart disease risk. Activity levels were captured via wearable accelerometers worn by participants for one week.
Participants, free of coronary heart disease at baseline, were tracked for nearly eight years to assess heart disease onset and mortality. Among those with prior heart disease, women who exercised faced a threefold lower death risk than men with comparable conditions.
The study shows that while exercise protects both sexes, men must maintain far greater physical activity to match the cardiovascular benefits women gain. Moreover, among those with existing heart disease, men needed substantially more exercise than women to achieve comparable reductions in mortality risk.
Clear sex differences exist in how exercise influences disease risk, likely driven by variations in hormones and body composition. Women’s higher circulating estrogen promotes greater fat loss during activity, enabling stronger cardiovascular gains.
This study provides a glimpse into exercise’s role in heart health and reinforces that any activity beats none. Consider it preventive medicine for your heart.
To view the original scientific study click below:
Sex differences in the association of wearable accelerometer-derived physical activity with coronary heart disease incidence and mortality
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