Physical Activity Guidelines

The government is working through physical activity recommendations again, and the new guidelines may surprise you although not me. I like that they just really want to get people moving... walking, playing, swimming, bicycling... anything to move. They also break activity into children, adults, seniors, time crunched etc. I have blogged about this. Hey, if you are time crunched, 10 minutes, 3 times per day will work just as much as 30 minutes at one time per the experts. You just have to put your all in to those 10 minutes. I love that they include strength training which I feel is so important. They discuss if you can't get 150 minutes in & how children are different. They also point out that doing 150 minutes, you will see general health-risk reductions of 25 percent. Here are the first couple paragraphs of this article:

"The basic recommendations — including the core guideline that Americans should get about 150 minutes of moderately intense activity per week — have not really changed from the ones announced in 1996 by the surgeon general’s office. What is different is the emphasis on the variety of activities — including daily chores — that can reap the profound health benefits of exercise. There is no “one size fits all.” Instead, the guidelines are broken into specific recommendations for adults, children, people over 65 and others. And while sustained aerobic activities are the foundation, there are other types of activities — muscle-building and flexibility-enhancing — that are also important.

The article is very comprehensive & discusses a variety of activities, getting started & those that just can't get it all in. A good read for all. Read it here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/23/health/nutrition/23fitness.html?ref=health