30 Minutes Daily Workout Can't Prevent Heart Failure: Study

Flying in the face of the popular notion that 30 minutes of daily workout is all the heart needs a new study suggests more time to lower heart failure risk.

Heart failure is defined as the heart's inability to pump blood to rest of the body. Unlike coronary heart disease, the rates of which have declined over the years, heart failure rates have remained unchanged. According to The Washington Post, the condition affects 5.1 million US adults every year.

The American Heart Association had recommended 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise every day, which can include brisk walking, jogging or a combination exercises. In the new study by researchers at University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, the 30-minute workout was not found to be as beneficial as it is made out to be. Instead, working out for one hour or even two hours, could reduce risk of heart failure by as much as 35 percent.

"There is an inverse, dose-response relationship between physical activity (PA) and heart failure (HF) risk. Doses of PA in excess of the guideline recommended minimum PA levels may be required for more substantial reductions in HF risk," researchers wrote in the journal Circulation.

For the study over 300,000 men and women were followed for an average 13 years. In the group, 20,203 participants suffered heart failure. After factoring self-reported daily workout plans, researchers concluded that 30 minutes is simply not sufficient.

The study's authors have however admitted that the research does not distinguish between leisure workout and physical activity a person may indulge in while working.