10 minutes? 30 minutes? 60 minutes or 90 minutes? How much exercise is enough? What does it mean for the average American when an organization or professional issues recommendations for exercise?
Physical inactivity is a major public health problem. There is overwhelming scientific evidence to suggest that a lack of regular exercise is the cause of many chronic illnesses and conditions. The awareness of the dangers of sitting down has led many groups to make recommendations for exercise.
Because there are so many organizations and organizations that provide guidelines for different types of exercise programs, the general public can be confused as to what guidelines to follow. To help make sense of this information we will look at a few of the most prominent organizations that recommend it and discuss how we can use this information in specific general situations.
General Surgeon General, 1996 – All adults should achieve at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity, equivalent to walking a lot, if not every day of the week. This report and recommendations are important because they were the first health-related work recommendations and are scientifically linked to the role of health professionals in preventing disease and illness.
American College of Sports Medicine and Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 1996 – All adults should get at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise if not every day of the week. Physical activity can accumulate in three to ten minutes of activity and can work as much as 30 minutes all at once.
The report is almost identical to the recommendation of the Surgeon General but is important because it looked at new science and was able to report that work could be done on a few occasions and had significant health benefits. Many Americans say lack of time as a reason for unemployment; this report has shown that in 10 minutes at a time can be very effective.
Who: Medical Institute (IOM), 2002 Adults should get at least 60 minutes of moderate exercise each day. IOM’s 60-minute recommendation to prevent weight gain and is concerned with additional health-related problems. Their recommendations for weight loss 90 minutes a day. This recommendation was part of a larger report that focused on weight management recommendations. This recommendation should be considered in line with the Surgeon General’s recommendation.
American College of Sports Medicine and American Heart Association, 2007 – Healthy adults under the age of 65 are 30 minutes of moderate cardio 30 minutes a day, five days a week or 20 minutes a day, three days per week of strenuous cardio activity and at eight to 10 strength training trials, eight to 12 repetitions of each exercise, at least twice a week. They realize that 60 to 90 minutes of physical activity may be necessary to lose weight or to maintain weight loss.
The U.S. Health and Human Services, 2008 – The report recommends that adults should get at least 2 hours and 30 minutes each week of moderate aerobic activity and 2 days a week to strengthen activities. T
is most recent report, published by the U.S. The Federal Government includes the most recent scientific review of the benefits of physical activity. 2 hours and 30 minutes a week equals 30 minutes five days a week. Physical activity can accumulate as mentioned in previous sections.
What does all of this mean?
Here are some basic messages to remove from the recommendation:
Regular physical activity is vital to health and the fight against disease and there is ample scientific evidence to support that claim.
How you collect your physical activity for 30 minutes a day for at least five days a week or two hours and 30 minutes a week depends on what works best for you. Both recommendations support that you can accumulate your physical activity, but you should be at least within 10 minutes to reap the benefits.
If your goal is to lose weight in high numbers, 60 to 90 minutes, it is a recommendation. However, if you were unemployed or just starting out you need to start with low prices and work.
Health benefits:
Adults should engage in moderate to vigorous physical activity for at least 30 minutes for 5 or more days a week or get at least 2 hours and 30 minutes each week of moderate-intensity exercise activity.
Adults can accumulate the recommended amount of fitness in moderation in ten minutes all day or all week. But it is important to know that the proof of doing so is that 10 minutes is the limit of receiving benefits.
Older people who are able to participate in strenuous physical activity can receive health benefits in less time a week; 20 minutes three days a week.
Strength and flexibility should be done twice a week.
Adults should participate in 60 to 90 minutes of vigorous physical activity per day, and include strength and stamina activities.
Medium or strong strength?
Consistency is mentioned in many recommendations. The explanations below from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention are designed to help you understand what different levels of severity mean. The right column of this page also contains examples of the functions and levels of strength that are often associated with it.
Quantity: Strength means how much work is done or the amount of effort required to do a workout or exercise.
Medium physical activity: At its highest level, physical activity of 3.0 to 5.9 times relaxation. On a scale related to individual strengths, moderate exercise is norma
