Four Words of Health Advice from the Dept. of Health and Human Services

The newest set of fitness guidelines from the Department of Health and Human Services won’t be released until next month, but Washington Post health reporter Howard Schneider has read a 600-page report on which the guidelines will be based, and he kindly boils it down to four pieces of advice:
A little goes a long way. Schneider says we don’t need to spend hours in the gym, hire a trainer or do anything
uncomfortable to receive many of the health benefits associated with
exercise. A half-hour walk five days a week at a moderate pace,
according to the study, translates to a lowered risk of heart disease,
diabetes and a host of other ailments, particularly that wonderful
"condition" referred to as "all-cause mortality."
More is better.  The panel’s review showed a clear distinction
between the modest amount of exercise that can deliver general health
benefits and the more intense work needed to improve fitness: our
cardiovascular endurance, our strength, our ability to do work. If
fitness is your goal, then that moderately paced walk needs to double
in length, to an hour. As an alternative, a half-hour a day of vigorous
exercise should be the minimum. The panel (and the science) was
agnostic as to what you do. Run, bike, swim or, yes, belly-dance.
For weight loss, even more is better yet. To lose weight, the
panel found, you need to work out longer (roughly that same hour or
more a day) or harder.  And, the panel pointed out, diet matters as well. Even a
steady workout plan can be defeated by poor nutrition and overeating.
Resistance isn’t futile. Regardless of how old or strong you
are, the panel found that resistance/weight training improved bone and
joint health, and muscular strength. If the aim
is to slow muscle loss and be able to keep doing as much as we can for
ourselves, then twice-a-week sessions with weights or resistance bands
will help.

Read more from Howard Schneider in the Washington Post.