--- title: Our Exercise Recommendations Are Unrealistic, Expert Says description: Do your eyes glaze over when you hear how much exercise you should get each week? That looming 150-minute figure is the equivalent of 21... canonical: https://time.com/3677063/exercise-recommendations-unrealistic/ author: Mandy Oaklander article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-22T16:01:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T03:45:38.314Z article:section: Health og:title: Our Exercise Recommendations Are Unrealistic, Expert Says og:description: Do your eyes glaze over when you hear how much exercise you should get each week? That looming 150-minute figure is the equivalent of 21... og:url: https://time.com/3677063/exercise-recommendations-unrealistic/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt773c0dfcb557f77d/69877b2ba988ca84eb6ac05b/excercise-running.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5616 og:image:height: 3159 og:image:alt: People Running Jogging on Treadmill at Health Club Gym og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Our Exercise Recommendations Are Unrealistic, Expert Says twitter:description: Do your eyes glaze over when you hear how much exercise you should get each week? That looming 150-minute figure is the equivalent of 21... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt773c0dfcb557f77d/69877b2ba988ca84eb6ac05b/excercise-running.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Is How Much Exercise Experts Really Think You Need > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. 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Jan 22, 2015 4:01 PM UTC Do your eyes glaze over when you hear how much exercise you should get each week? That looming 150-minute figure is the equivalent of 21 [micro workouts](http://time.com/3668761/get-fitter-much-faster/) a week—and it seems like nobody has time for that. This is the problem with our exercise recommendations, argues a new [analysis](http://www.bmj.com/user/login?destination=node/889252) published in _The_ _BMJ:_ They’re just set far too high to motivate the people who need them the most. That’s the argument of Philipe de Souto Barreto, a researcher at University Hospital of Toulouse in France and author of the new paper. “Getting inactive people to do a little bit of physical activity, even if they don’t meet the recommendations, might provide greater population health gains,” he writes. It’s not that the recommendations are off for optimal health. 150 minutes of moderate physical activity each week, which the World Health Organization sets as its target, is a great goal that’s been shown to reduce risk for all kinds of diseases and death, Barreto says. But other data shows that gentler goals can also provide important health benefits. One study of more than 250,000 older adults found that getting less than an hour of moderate physical activity each week was linked to a 15% drop in death. Barreto also cites a [review](http://www.ijbnpa.org/content/7/1/39) of 254 articles looking at the link between exercise and disease reduction, which found that the relationship between the two is dose-dependent. In other words, it’s not an all or nothing affair: even minor shifts can help people who don’t get enough exercise. Another analysis of studies found that when people walk just 1-74 minutes a week, they have a 19% reduced risk of death, compared to the most sedentary people. “Achieving target physical activity recommendations should remain as a goal but not the core public health message surrounding physical activity,” Barreto writes. _Read next:_ [_4 People Who Might Be Making You Fat_](http://time.com/3649816/people-making-you-fat/?xid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3677063/exercise-recommendations-unrealistic/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3677063/exercise-recommendations-unrealistic/"},"headline":"This Is How Much Exercise Experts Really Think You Need","datePublished":"2015-01-22T16:01:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:45:38.314Z","description":"Do your eyes glaze over when you hear how much exercise you should get each week? 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