Houston (OTL) - New exercise guidelines released by the U.S. government have recommend adults exercise a minimum of 2 1/2 hours a week for optimal health.
The new Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, are the most complete federal recommendations ever and the new gold standard.
They state that adults need 2.5 hours of exercise each week, whereas kids need at least an hour a day of exercise and play outside.
This comes as the Health and Human Services Secretary, Michael Leavitt, confirmed that the majority of adults in the U.S. do not get enough physical activity.
During the course of a telephone interview, the Secretary for US Health and Human Services, Mike Leavitt, said, “More than 59 percent of adults don’t get enough physical activity and a quarter of adults aren’t active at all in their leisure time. I think these are the first comprehensive federal guidelines on physical activity.”
Recommendations for adults vary from 2 ½ hours/week of ‘moderate intensity activity’, such as bicycling at under 10mph, brisk walking, gardening, water aerobics, ballroom dancing, etc. Alternatively, adults could have at least 1 ¼ hours/week of ‘vigorous intense activity’ such as jogging, uphill hiking, jumping rope, etc.