If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
The United States Department of Health and Human Services has released its physical activity guidelines for adults and children. The official web site offers a number of different ways to access this information:
- 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans
- Be Active Your Way: A Guide for Adults
- An activities toolkit for communities and organizations
- The advisory committee report for health professionals and researchers
For the first time, Americans are encouraged to do both aerobic activities and strengthening activities.
The guidelines recommend at least 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise every week (moderate aerobic activity as in “I can talk while do them but I can’t sing”) or 1 hour and 15 minutes of vigorous physical activity every week (vigorous activity as in “I can only say a few words without stopping to catch my breath”).
Adults are also encouraged to do muscle strengthening activities at least two days a week. The two guidelines for these types of exercise are:
- Include all the major muscle groups such as legs, hips, back, chest, stomach, shoulders, and arms.
- Exercises for each muscle group should be repeated 8 to 12 times per session.
One nice thing about the Body for Life method is that following it allows a person to essentially meet these requirements. (Not exactly, though. If you do Body for Life by the book, you only get an hour of aerobic exercise per week, and you only exercise each muscle group 1.5 times.)
So, surprisingly enough, I’m meeting the Federal guidelines for physical activity. A year ago, I was a couch potato. That’s progress!
[U.S. Department of Health & Human Services: Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans]
Mac
6 responses so far ↓
1 Andrew is getting fit // Oct 7, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Times have changed haven’t they?
2 Parth // Oct 7, 2008 at 3:28 pm
I don’t agree with all the guidelines, but at least its a start.
3 Slowfit // Oct 9, 2008 at 2:47 am
Guidelines look good, and simple. Someone could meet them with two strength focused group personal training sessions per week and a 30 minute walk most evenings after dinner.
I like that they have so much flexibility. Not everyone cares about being a bodybuilder or running a marathon, nor should they. The Internet fitness community can be skewed towards the extreme at times.
Sad thing is, hardly anyone even gets the minimum. I am convinced that even when surveys say that 30 or 60% of people meet the guideliness, the respondents mostly lie.
4 Parth // Oct 9, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Slowfit - well, my issue is with the 2 and half hours of cardio. Even on a five days a week schedule, you’re looking at 30 minutes a day. Seems reasonable on paper, but not practical in real life. Most beginners will not be able to commit to more than 3 days, most at 2 days a week. So if we’re talking about 3 days a week, then that’s still 50 mintues a day, 3 days a week. People will not wake up early for that, nor will they take up their lunch times, nor will they train after work because their too “tired.” And we haven’t even talking about the strength training. So then the question remains, how do you fit this into your daily life?
Just my two cents. I’ll have a full post on this on my site tomorrow.
5 Yabby // Oct 10, 2008 at 4:10 am
Thought you might be interested in this article from Australia, which covers the “secrets” to long-term successful weight loss. Any readers of GFS shouldn’t be surprised …
Cheers
http://www.theage.com.au/news/diet/secrets-to-long-term-weight-loss/2008/10/09/1223145521905.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
6 Laura // Oct 20, 2008 at 10:05 am
Great article. I think that so many people like myself, are looking for the magic diet that will reverse years of bad eating habits in an instant. After years of unseccussful diets I realized that most of these diets lead to starvation and in turn failure. What I have found is that by allowing myself to eat more throughout the day, that I am less likely to over indulge in foods that are otherwise bad for me. When I eat more throughout the day, I don’t feel deprived and I am also more likely to pass on food that I will regret later.
Leave a Comment