[Rethinking exercise prescription in primary care: from physiological dose to health asset]

Population-level evidence on the benefits of physical activity is robust, but its translation into individual clinical practice is not automatic. When exercise prescription in primary care is reduced to a physiological dose without proper assessment of biographical context, motivation, opportunity cost and adequate progression, it ceases to function as an effective preventive intervention and may generate psychological burden, dropout and, in extreme cases, compulsive behaviour. This article proposes a reformulation: prescription should be understood as a complex and individualised behavioural intervention aimed at generating health resources, not as an imposition of minutes. Six minimum components are proposed: biographical context assessment, shared negotiation, tailored progression, sustained behavioural support, cost monitoring and autonomous motivation, applicable across the primary care team, and it is argued that load-based reductionism may constitute an avoidable form of iatrogenesis.