Cardiologists Urge Doctors to Prescribe Exercise as Routine Heart Care

The statement, published online October 15, 2026, in JACC, asks doctors to treat exercise as a foundational part of routine cardiovascular care. It covers both preventing heart disease and managing it. The writing committee was chaired by Jonathan N. Myers, PhD.

Its central message is simple. "Some activity is better than none," Myers said. According to the statement, the greatest benefit comes when people move from inactivity to regular physical activity. More activity, and more intensity where clinically appropriate, is linked to further benefit.

What counts as enough? The statement points to growing evidence that meaningful benefits come well below 10,000 steps a day. About 5,000 to 7,000 daily steps is associated with lower cardiovascular and all-cause mortality for many adults. That is an association seen in studies of populations. It does not prove that walking that amount is the cause of the lower risk. This is the weakest part of the argument: the step-count evidence is observational.

"Patients do not need to become athletes to improve their cardiovascular health," Myers said. "Small increases in physical activity can produce meaningful benefits, particularly for those who are currently inactive."

Strength work gets a place in the plan too. The statement says resistance training should complement aerobic exercise for most adults. Aerobic exercise is walking, cycling or anything that raises your heart rate for a sustained period. Resistance training means lifting weights, using bands or doing bodyweight exercises. The statement recommends doing both.

The statement also says exercise should be individualized. A plan should reflect a person's heart condition, functional capacity, symptoms, goals and preferences. A person recovering from a heart event needs a different plan than someone with no symptoms who is trying to stay healthy.

On testing, the statement says routine exercise testing is not required before starting exercise for most people who have no symptoms or whose conditions are stable. Testing can still provide useful information for shaping a prescription when it is clinically appropriate.

For many people with known heart disease, cardiac rehabilitation remains first-line treatment, the statement says. Access to it should be expanded. Insurance reimbursement is still a barrier for many. Patients with known heart disease who cannot take part in a formal program should still receive an individualized exercise prescription. The statement also says wearable devices and virtual or home-based programs may help people keep exercising over time, especially alongside structured programs.

Myers said exercise is one of the most effective therapies for preventing and managing cardiovascular disease, yet it remains underutilized in routine care. The statement calls for more exercise counseling in routine visits, better clinician training and expanded access to rehabilitation.

Exercise is not a replacement for medical care. The statement is written for clinicians, so questions about how it applies to you belong with your own care team.

The statement also calls for more research on long-term adherence, clinical outcomes, diverse populations and scalable ways to deliver exercise programs. Watch for whether those studies follow, and whether insurers move on cardiac rehabilitation coverage.

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