Beyond fitness: Why exercise is vital to improve cardiovascular health

Exercise is not just about improved fitness, better performance, or a shapely physique – regular physical activity is one of the most effective ways to improve your cardiovascular health, but it’s not just high-intensity intervals and gym sweat sessions that deliver a benefit.

Research shows that even small changes in your daily activity levels – as little as 1,000 steps¹ – can have a big impact on your cardiovascular system, helping to:

1. Strengthen your heart
2. Improve blood flow
3. Reduce risk factors, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes

Adding the right types of exercise to this regular activity will help maximise the health benefits by improving overall heart function and efficiency.

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Why Heart Health Matters

A strong and healthy heart is vital for longevity and overall quality of life, especially as you age.

This powerful organ is responsible for circulating blood throughout your body to nourish your brain, organs, and muscles with vital oxygen and nutrients, and to transport important biological compounds, such as hormones and immune cells.

Strengthening the powerful walls of your heart with regular activity and exercise also creates a stronger, more efficient pump that pushes greater volumes of blood around your body with every beat. 

This means a stronger heart requires fewer beats per minute to meet our daily demands (that’s why fitter people have a lower heart rate at rest and during exercise).

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The First Step To Heart Health

Studies confirm that improving your heart health can be as simple as walking every day. Large, long-term studies²consistently demonstrate that walking is one of the most effective ways to protect your heart and prevent disease.

Whether you are young or old, healthy or recovering from an illness, regular walking improves key health markers, such as blood pressure and cholesterol.

A study¹ published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology found that compared to a daily step count of 2,300 steps, every extra 1,000 steps was linked to a 17% reduction in the risk of developing a major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE), up to 10,000 steps.

Additional steps above 10,000 were associated with a 22% reduction in heart failure, 9% reduction in risk of heart attack, and 24% reduction in risk of stroke. Based on the findings, the researchers concluded that any physical activity is beneficial, and the faster you walk, the better. 

As such, it can be beneficial to perform low-intensity activities more often. This could include going for walks during your lunch break, taking the stairs instead of the lift, or parking at the far end of the parking lot when you go shopping, as examples.

For meaningful benefits to longevity, a study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine ³ found that those who walked more (around 160 minutes/day) showed up to 11 years longer life expectancy than the least active.

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Give Your Heart a Workout

Adding regular cardiovascular exercise to the mix, such as running, cycling, skipping, stepping, rowing or swimming, further improves your heart health by strengthening your cardiovascular and respiratory systems.

Weight training can also benefit your heart and cardiovascular system. In a meta-analysis published in 2022⁴, researchers determined that doing strength-based exercise, like lifting weights or resistance training, is linked to a lower risk of death and major chronic illnesses, including cardiovascular disease.

Regarding exercise, a study⁵ conducted at the University of Oxford found that there is no upper threshold to the benefits of exercise in improving your heart health. Researchers stated that any exercise, no matter how vigorous or for how long, can help to reduce cardiovascular disease risk.

More intense or longer duration exercise benefits your heart by strengthening the powerful walls of your heart, which are made up of cardiac muscle called myocardium.

This response to regular exercise creates a stronger, more efficient pump, which means our heart can push greater volumes of blood around our body with every beat. This improves circulation, delivering more oxygen and nutrients to muscles and organs.

Regular exercise can:

• Lower blood pressure and resting heart rate
• Improve cholesterol profiles (higher HDL, lower LDL)
• Help control body weight and blood sugar
• Lower risk of heart attack and stroke
• Improve longevity

Make Your Move!

What’s clear from all the research on cardiovascular health is that your heart thrives on movement. Whether it’s brisk walks, cycling, running, swimming laps, or high-intensity bursts, every heartbeat counts.

Start where you are, aiming for at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week, including a mix of aerobic activities with strength training for comprehensive benefits.

Stay consistent, and your heart will thank you with better health, endurance, and more years of life to enjoy.

References:

1. Sonia W.M. Cheng et al. Prospective associations of daily step count and stepping intensity with overall and type-specific major adverse cardiovascular events in people with hypertension. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, doi:10.1093/eurjpc/zwaf441.
2. Murtagh EM, Murphy MH, Boone-Heinonen J. Walking: the first steps in cardiovascular disease prevention. Curr Opin Cardiol. 2010 Sep;25(5):490-6. doi: 10.1097/HCO.0b013e32833ce972. PMID: 20625280; PMCID: PMC3098122.
3. Veerman L, Tarp J, Wijaya R, et al. Physical activity and life expectancy: a life-table analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine 2025;59:333-338.
4. Momma H, Kawakami R, Honda T, et al. Muscle-strengthening activities are associated with lower risk and mortality in major non-communicable diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2022;56:755-763.
5. Ramakrishnan R, Doherty A, Smith-Byrne K, Rahimi K, Bennett D, et al. Accelerometer measured physical activity and the incidence of cardiovascular disease: Evidence from the UK Biobank cohort study. PLOS Medicine. January 2021. 18(9): e1003809. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003809.