Good news! Faithful readers who have been lying around the house, fearful of doing either too much or too little exercise, can now be certain that they will get it right. The Department of Health and Human Services has just released its new guidelines for physical activity. Can’t wait to read them? A monster pdf of the guidelines can be downloaded here. A quick summary can be read here. And an even quicker summary, borrowed from the Chicago Sun-Times, offers this:
• Adults should do at least 2.5 hours of moderate-intensity
physical activity each week, such as brisk walking, or 1.25 hours of a
vigorous-intensity activity, such as jogging or swimming laps, or a
combination of the two types, to get the most health benefits from
exercise.
• To get even more health benefits, people should do five hours of
moderate-intensity physical activity each week or 2.5 hours of vigorous
activity.
• Adults should do muscle-strengthening activities at a moderate-
or high-intensity level for all major muscle groups two or more days a
week. This should include exercises for the chest, back, shoulders,
upper legs, hips, abdomen and lower legs. The exercises can be done
with free weights or machines, calisthenics that use body weight for
resistance (push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups), or carrying heavy loads or
heavy gardening such as digging or hoeing.