Let's Talk about Moving: The Impact of Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Exercise, Steps and Sitting on Cardiovascular Risk

preventing its occurrence (i.e., primary prevention). Moving further upstream, preventing the occurrence of well-established CVD risk factors from ever manifesting is optimal (i.e., primordial prevention). In the unfortunate and currently common situation where CVD does manifest, either clinical or subclinical, reversal of risk factors becomes imperative (i.e., secondary prevention). Regardless of the CVD prevention entry point (i.e., primordial to secondary), increasing physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is a primary objective. While unique entities, there is a degree of overlap between physical activity and CRF that warrants recognition. Physical activity is quantified by some type of activity tracker or more commonly by self-report. CRF is quantified by exercise testing techniques, where peak/maximal aerobic capacity is either estimated [i.e., metabolic equivalents (METs)] or directly measured [i.e., peak oxygen consumption (VO 2 )]. The link between both higher levels of physical activity and CRF and a decreased risk of being diagnosed with CVD, or suffering a subsequent adverse event if already diagnosed with CVD, is beyond dispute. Comparatively, the drop in CVD risk with increasing CRF is sharper than that observed with increasing levels of physical activity, an observation likely associated with the fact that the former is a more objective measure that the latter. There are well established recommendations for weekly exercise patterns: 1) 150 minutes or more moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week; or 2) 75 minutes or more of vigorous aerobic activity per week. Participating in exercise at these volumes portends clear health benefits. Even so, it has become increasingly recognized that exercise volumes falling significantly below these recommendations also provides substantial health benefits. For example, Lavie et al. recently reviewed the risk of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality according to running EDITORIAL