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The American College of
Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the American Heart Association
(AHA) released updated physical activity
guidelines in 2007. These guidelines outline exercise recommendations
for healthy adults and older adults and are an update from the 1995
guidelines. Choose your category below, and find recommendations,
research and tips from ACSM and AHA. Together, we are proud to
serve as a public resource to help people live healthier, more active
lives.
Read
the healthy adults
manuscript Read
the older adults manuscript
Guidelines for healthy adults
under age 65
Basic recommendations from ACSM and
AHA:
Do moderately intense cardio 30
minutes a day, five days a week
Or
Do vigorously intense cardio 20 minutes
a day, 3 days a week
And
Do eight to 10 strength-training
exercises, eight to 12 repetitions of each exercise twice a
week.
Moderate-intensity physical
activity means working hard enough to raise your heart rate and break a
sweat, yet still being able to carry on a conversation. It should be
noted that to lose weight or maintain weight loss, 60 to 90 minutes of
physical activity may be necessary. The 30-minute recommendation is for
the average healthy adult to maintain health and reduce the risk for
chronic disease.
Use the links below to learn more about the
guidelines and to make physical activity a regular part of your
life.
Tips for meeting the
guidelines
Starting an exercise
program
Improvements
from the 1995 recommendation
Exercise
is MedicineTM
Frequently
Asked Questions
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Tips for meeting the
guidelines
With busy work schedules, family obligations,
and packed weekends, it can often be difficult to get the recommended
amount of physical activity. Try these tips for incorporating exercise
into your life:
- Do it in short bouts. Research shows that moderate-intensity physical activity
can be accumulated throughout the day in 10-minute bouts, which can be
just as effective as exercising for 30 minutes straight. This can be
useful when trying to fit physical activity into a busy
schedule.
- Mix it up. Combinations of moderate- and vigorous-intensity
physical activity can be used to meet the guidelines. For example, you
can walk briskly for 30 minutes twice per week and jog at a higher
intensity on two other days.
- Set your schedule. Maybe it’s easier for you to walk during your
lunch hour, or perhaps hitting the pavement right after dinner is best
for you. The key is to set aside specific days and times for exercise,
making it just as much a regular part of your schedule as everything
else.
- The gym isn’t a necessity.
It doesn’t take an expensive gym membership
to get the daily recommended amount of physical activity. A pair of
athletic shoes and a little motivation are all you need to live a more
active, healthier life.
- Make it a family affair. Take your
spouse, your children, or a friend with you during exercise to add some
fun to your routine. This is also a good way to encourage your kids to
be physically active and get them committed early to a lifetime of
health.
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Starting an exercise
program
Starting an exercise program can sound like a
daunting task, but just remember that your main goal is to boost your
health by meeting the basic physical activity recommendations: 30
minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity at least five days per
week, or vigorous-intensity activity at least three days per week, and
strength training at least twice per week.
Choose activities you enjoy, such as swimming,
biking, or playing basketball with friends to get your daily physical
activity. If you need variety of activities to stay motivated, combine a
few that appeal to you.
Physical activity can be accumulated through a
variety of activities, not just running. Walking is a great way
to do moderate-intensity physical activity. This issue of ACSM’s Fit Society Page® Newsletter
contains an article on walking for health, as well as other features on
getting active.
Watch these
videos, courtesy of ACSM's Exercise is
MedicineTM program, to learn about
types of exercise, strength training, flexibility and more.
These Current Comments and brochures may also
be helpful in designing your own activity program, gathering ideas for
ways to accumulate physical activity, or learning about exercise and
health:
Exercise
While Traveling
Women’s
Heart Health and a Physically Active Lifestyle
Energy
Expenditure in Different Modes of Exercise
Exercise
and Age-Related Weight Gain
From the “Selecting and Effectively
Using” brochure series:
Heart Rate Monitors
Pedometers
Rubber Band Resistance
Exercise
Health/Fitness Facilities
Home Treadmills
Stability Balls
Free
Weights
Home Weights
Elliptical Trainers
Personal Trainers
Stair Steppers/Climbers
Stationary Bicycles
Click here to view ACSM’s news and publications page, with
links to all Current Comments and brochures.
ACSM produces the Fit Society Page®
Newsletter for the public on a quarterly basis. Each issue contains
helpful articles on health and fitness. To view the latest
issues, click here.
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Improvements from
the 1995 recommendation
Although the 2007 recommendations are similar
to the 1995 recommendations at the core, eight improvements have been
made:
1. Moderate-intensity physical activity has
been clarified.
The 1995 document simply specified
“most, preferably all days per week” as the recommended
frequency while the new recommendation identifies five days per week as
the recommended minimum.
2. Vigorous-intensity physical activity has
been explicitly incorporated into the recommendation.
To acknowledge both the preferences of
some adults for vigorous-intensity physical activity and the substantial
science base related to participation in such activity, the
recommendation has been clarified to encourage participation in either
moderate- and/or vigorous-intensity physical activity.
Vigorous-intensity physical activity was implicit in the 1995
recommendation. It is now explicitly an integral part of the
physical activity recommendation.
3. Specified: Moderate- and
vigorous-intensity activities are complementary in the production of
health benefits and that a variety of activities can be combined to meet
the recommendation.
This combining of activities is based
on the amount (intensity x duration) of activity performed during the
week and uses the concept of METs (metabolic equivalents) to assign an
intensity value to a specific activity.
4. Specified: Aerobic activity needed is in
addition to routine activities of daily life.
The updated recommendation now clearly
states that the recommended amount of aerobic activity (whether of
moderate- or vigorous-intensity) is in addition to routine activities of
daily living which are of light intensity, such as self care, casual
walking or grocery shopping, or less than 10 minutes of duration such as
walking to the parking lot or taking out the trash. Few activities
in contemporary life are conducted routinely at a moderate intensity for
at least 10 minutes in duration. However, moderate- or
vigorous-intensity activities performed as a part of daily life (e.g.,
brisk walking to work, gardening with shovel, carpentry) performed in
bouts of 10 minutes or more can be counted towards the recommendation.
Although implied, this concept was not effectively communicated in the
original recommendation.
5. “More is better.”
The new recommendation emphasizes the
important fact that physical activity above the recommended minimum
amount provides even greater health benefits. The point of maximum
benefit for most health benefits has not been established but likely
varies with genetic endowment, age, sex, health status, body composition
and other factors. Exceeding the minimum recommendation further
reduces the risk of inactivity-related chronic disease. Although
the dose-response relation was acknowledged in the 1995 recommendation,
this fact is now explicit.
6. Short bouts of exercise.
Although the original recommendation introduced the concept of
accumulating short bouts of physical activity toward the 30-minute goal,
there was confusion regarding how short these episodes could be.
For consistency and clarity, the minimum length of these short bouts is
clarified as being 10 minutes.
7. Muscle-strengthening recommendation now
included.
Muscle-strengthening activities have
now been incorporated into the physical activity recommendation.
Although the 1995 recommendation mentioned the importance of muscular
strength and endurance, it stopped short of making specific declarations
in this area. Available evidence now allows the integration of
muscle strengthening activities into the core
recommendation.
8. Clarification in wording.
Minor wording changes in the
recommendation have been made to enhance clarity in
communications. For example, the term “aerobic,” or
endurance, has been added to clarify the type of physical activity being
recommended and to differentiate it from muscle-strengthening exercises,
which are now part of the core recommendation.
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Guidelines for
adults over age 65
(or adults 50-64 with chronic conditions, such as arthritis)
Basic recommendations from ACSM and
AHA:
Do moderately intense aerobic
exercise 30 minutes a day, five days a week
Or
Do vigorously intense aerobic exercise
20 minutes a day, 3 days a week
And
Do eight to 10 strength-training
exercises, 10-15 repetitions of each exercise twice to three times per
week
And
If you are at risk of falling, perform
balance exercises
And
Have a physical activity
plan.
Both aerobic and
muscle-strengthening activity is critical for healthy aging. Moderate-intensity aerobic exercise means working
hard at about a level-six intensity on a scale of 10. You should still
be able to carry on a conversation during exercise.
Older adults or adults with chronic conditions
should develop an activity plan with a health professional to manage
risks and take therapeutic needs into account. This will maximize the
benefits of physical activity and ensure your safety. ACSM's Exercise is
MedicineTM program focuses on working
with your physician or health care professional to develop a successful
activity plan.
Use the links below to learn more about the
guidelines and to make physical activity a regular part of your
life.
Key points to the guidelines for older
adults
Starting an exercise
program
Frequently
Asked Questions
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Key points to the guidelines for older
adults
Although the guidelines for older adults and
adults with chronic conditions are similar to those for younger adults,
there are a few key differences and points to consider.
- Start, and get help if you need
it. The general recommendation is that older adults should
meet or exceed 30 minutes of moderate physical activity on most days of
the week; however, it is also recognized that goals below this threshold
may be necessary for older adults who have physical impairments or
functional limitations.
- Functional health is an important benefit of physical activity for older
adults. Physical activity contributes to the ease of doing everyday
activities, such as gardening, walking or cleaning the house.
- Strength training is extremely important. Strength training is important
for all adults, but especially so for older adults, as it prevents loss
of muscle mass and bone, and is beneficial for functional
health.
- If you can exceed the minimum
recommendations, do it! The minimum
recommendations are just that: the minimum needed to maintain health and see
fitness benefits. If you can exceed the minimum, you can improve your
personal fitness, improve management of an existing disease or
condition, and reduce your risk for health conditions and
mortality.
- Flexibility is also important. Each day
you perform aerobic or strength-training activities, take an extra 10
minutes to stretch the major muscle and tendon groups, with 10-30
seconds for each stretch. Repeat each stretch three to four times.
Flexibility training will promote the ease of performing everyday
activities.
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Starting an
exercise program
Starting an exercise program can sound like a
daunting task, but just remember that your main goal is to meet the
basic physical activity recommendations: 30 minutes of
moderate-intensity physical activity at least five days per week, or
vigorous-intensity activity at least three days per week, and strength
training two to three times per week.
Choose activities that appeal to you and will
make exercise fun. Walking is a great, easy way to do
moderate-intensity physical activity. This issue of ACSM’s Fit Society Page® Newsletter
contains an article on walking for health, as well as other features on
getting active.
Here are Current Comments and brochures from
the American College of Sports Medicine to help you get started, gather
ideas for your exercise program, and inform you:
Exercise
and the Older Adult
Strength,
Power, and the Baby Boomer
Resistance
Training and the Older Adult
Exercise Your Way to Lower Blood
Pressure
Exercise
for Persons with Cardiovascular Disease
From the “Selecting and Effectively
Using” brochure series:
Heart Rate Monitors
Pedometers
Rubber Band Resistance
Exercise
Health/Fitness Facilities
Home Treadmills
Stability Balls
Free
Weights
Home Weights
Elliptical Trainers
Personal Trainers
Stair Steppers/Climbers
Stationary Bicycles
ACSM produces the Fit Society Page®
Newsletter for the public on a quarterly basis. Two issues of the
newsletter specifically relate to older adults:
Nutrition
and Fitness for the Older Adult
Exercise
and the Older Adult
Each issue of the newsletter contains
helpful articles on health and fitness. To view the latest
issues, click here.
ACSM’s Active Aging Partnership has
developed a national blueprint to increase physical activity in adults
over age 50. This Web site contains many helpful tips, links and
brochures. Visit the aging blueprint.
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