This study is currently going viral, perhaps because it is one of few that are statistically extremely strong. But as I read it, I realized we have one BIG blind spot in how we measure exercise. The study, published in British Journal of Sports Medicine (doi; 10.1136/bjsports-2025-111351), suggests that for achieving a 30% reduction in cardiovascular disease requires roughly 560 to 610 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per week. This is around 80 minutes every day! So movement is crucial: Running, swimming, cycling, playing football, tennis, etc. The study shows statistically that movement – undoubtedly – matters enormously! The good thing: We became very good at measuring it. Smartwatches now measure how long we run, it calculates distance, pace, heart rate, HRV – some can even estimate VO2 max. These are affordable! You can track your cardiorespiratory activitry and fitness reliably enough for 20 to 40€ with a Xiaomi MiBand. But the study made me think about something else. If all of the sudden, everyone is exercising cardio for 80 minutes a day: What happens during those 80 minutes? Imagine two people who both exercise 80 minutes every day. Their sophisticated Garmin Fenix smartwatch will essentially tell the same story. But mechanically, their bodies could experience something completely different. How much force are they producing? How quickly can the do so? What happens when they land? How do they decelerate? How are loads distributed between the left and right leg? Can they stabilize themselves after a rapid movement? What I want to say: Two people doing the same exercises for 80 minutes a day can arrive at a similar cardiovascular health, while ending up at entirely different muscular or join health. One becomes stronger and more resilient, the other accumulates weakness, asymmetry or excessive joint loading. In other words: They can have the same VO2-max, run the same distance at the same pace – while still having completely different strength, stability, force absorbtion and joint loading profiles. We measure the “dose” of movement very well, with every new smartwatch generation we can measure the cardiovascular response better. But outside of elite sport, biomechanics science labs, or rehabilitation (when it is too late), people do not have access to measuring their mechanical interactions with the ground. Why does it matter? When you run, every single step means you apply force to the ground and then absorb force again. Can you tell me, how you absorb forces when you run? Or Whether legs behave differently between left and right? Or how it changes after training, an injury, or simply as you get older? Unless you go to a specialized lab, you don’t know the answers. I think this matters enormously, because health is not only a cardiovascular event. And I’m very happy that with Movetrics.com we are working on making these measurments available to everyone on earth. This is a real photo of our Movetrics F1-3D force plate: If you find this interesting, we are currently looking for 20 pilot customers who want to help us make this kind of force measurement more accessible outside elite sport and biomechanics labs. For example: gyms, amateur sports clubs, physiotherapy, applied science. Our idea is simple: you use the system with real clients, in real world settings, give us honest feedback, and help us shape what the product needs to become, in order to reach every human being on our beautiful planet. If this sounds relevant for you or your organization, send me a message or email: [email protected] Link to the mentioned study: https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2026/05/28/bjsports-2025-111351.long
