Physical activity recommendations for adults have been updated by the American College of Sport Medicine (ACSM) and the American Heart Association (AHA).

All healthy adults ages 18 to 65 years need moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity for at least 30 minutes on five days each week or vigorous-intensity physical activity for at least 20 minutes on three days each week.

It is also recommended that eight to ten exercises using the major muscle groups be performed on two non-consecutive days and a resistance should be used for eight to twelve repetitions of each exercise resulting in willful fatigue. Targeting the major muscle groups will maintain or increase muscular strength and endurance.

The recommendations are an update and clarification of the 1995 recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control Prevention (CDC) and ACSM on the types and amounts of physical activity needed by healthy adults to improve and maintain health.

New Recommendations

• Moderate-intensity physical activity has been clarified, identifying five days per week as the recommended minimum.
• Vigorous-intensity physical has been explicitly incorporated into the recommendation.
• Recommendations now specify that moderate- and vigorous-intensity activities are complementary in producing health benefits.
• Aerobic activity is specified as a needed addition to routine activities of daily life.
• New recommendations emphasize that physical activity above the recommended minimum amount provides even greater health benefits.
• Short bouts of exercise are okay and the minimum length of these short bouts is clarified as being ten minutes.
• A muscle-strengthening recommendation is included.
• Minor wording changes in the recommendations have been made to clarify terms such as aerobic.

The recommendations were published in Medicine & Science in Sport and Exercise, ACSM’s official journal and Circulation, a journal of the AHA.

For more information or additional details, visit www.americanheart.org/fitness.