The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services just released it's new exercise guidelines for adults. I kind of see it as a Food Guide Pyramid for physical activity. The department says these new guidelines were released to clear up any confusion on how much exercise we should be getting per week. For the average adult, 2.5 hours of moderate aerobic activity is required, but if it is vigorous aerobic activity, then 1 hour and 15 minutes is the goal to shoot for.
These new guidelines were created in an effort to put a stop to the rising trend of adult and childhood obesity in this country.
Now some of you may be wondering what the difference is between moderate and vigorous aerobic exercise. Health and Human Services says moderate activity includes things such as doubles tennis, gardening, ballroom dancing, brisk walking, and leisurely biking. Vigorous activity is considered swimming laps, heavy gardening (using a hoe), singles tennis, backpacking, jumping rope, race walking, jogging, and biking over 10 mph.
The important thing to remember with all this, if you are new to exercise, start out slow. Those that are extremely obese may only be able to walk 100 yards without having to take a break. It's sad, but true. I have a friend who was interning at a hospital this summer and was telling me about this extremely obese person who could only muster up enough energy to shuffle forward a few hundred yards before having to stop to catch their breath. Then they would shuffle a few more hundred yards, stop to catch their breath, and keep continuing down the hospital hallway like this. Now this may be an extreme example, but the principle is still the same. As I've written before, start out slow. Start with some moderate activity exercise, and then once you get your body used to exercising for 2.5 hours each week, increase the intensity. Health and Human Services says to work up to 5 hours per week. Now, putting two and two together, that's 5 days per week because remember, if you truly are focusing on your exercises during this time, an hour a day will be plenty.
So you have to ask yourself, "Where am I right now?" Are you getting at least 2.5 hours in per week? If not, you may want to consider it.
For more information, visit the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
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