Exercise: Physical Activity

“For important health benefits, the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend both aerobic activity and muscle-strengthening activity every week for adults (SOR C). The recommended minimums for weekly aerobic activity include 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity such as brisk walking, 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity such as jogging or running, or an equivalent mix of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity. In addition, muscle-strengthening activities that work all major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms) should be performed 2 or more days/week.

It is best to spread the activities out over the course of the week, and patients can be reminded that even 10-minute episodes of moderate or vigorous aerobic activity can be beneficial. For those who are currently meeting minimum targets for aerobic activity, slowly increasing the amount of time spent engaging in these activities will increase the benefits.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has concluded with moderate certainty that medium- to high-intensity counseling has a small net benefit on health behaviors and outcomes in adults without cardiovascular disease, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, or diabetes mellitus. It has recommended that clinicians may choose to selectively counsel patients rather than incorporate counseling into the care of all adults in the general population, depending on the patient, social support and community resources, and other health care and preventive service priorities (USPSTF C recommendation).” ABFM