Jonathan Myers, PhD, said there were several reasons:
“First, many physicians and other health care professionals receive relatively little formal training in exercise prescription. Clinicians learn a great deal about medications and procedures, but comparatively little about how to develop an individualized exercise program.”
Myers also said that because clinical encounters and appointments are often brief and limited, physical activity counseling can be overshadowed by more urgent medical concerns.
“There are also practical barriers, including limited reimbursement, access to exercise programs, and uncertainty about how to prescribe exercise safely in patients with cardiovascular disease,” he added.
“It is important to change the way we incorporate physical activity into routine clinical care. We should be assessing physical activity and physical fitness as much as we assess other cardiovascular risk factors, and we should provide patients with specific, individualized recommendations.”
— Jonathan Myers, PhD
Myers said that telling people to ‘get more exercise’ is often unhelpful advice and that healthcare professionals should be able to recommend specific activities, including frequency, intensity, and progression over time. He said a dedicated exercise professional, such as an exercise physiologist, could be routinely incorporated into treatment plans.
He also touched on cardiac rehabilitation programs, including at-home and virtual applications.
“We also need to expand access to cardiac rehabilitation and other structured exercise programs, including home-based and virtual approaches. Ultimately, exercise prescription should become as routine in cardiovascular care as prescribing medications or managing blood pressure,” he said.