When it comes to preventing heart failure, even the recommended amounts may not be enough, finds a new study

Being inactive is solidly linked to heart problems like heart attack and stroke, and exercise can help lower risk factors—such as high blood pressure and narrowed blood vessels—that are connected to those heart events.

But when it comes to another type of heart condition, heart failure, the effect of physical activity isn’t as clear. If coronary heart disease can be traced to more physical issues, such as blocked arteries or excessive pressure from blood pumping around the body, heart failure is more of a body-wide problem affecting not just the heart but almost every tissue.

In heart failure, the heart gradually loses its ability to effectively pump oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body, and it can’t keep up with supplying muscles and cells with what they need to function properly. 5.1 million people in U.S. have heart failure.

Source: Are Exercise Recommendations Really Enough to Protect the Heart? | TIME