How Much Exercise Is Enough?

Before you make a decision on how much exercise you need, you should have a good idea of your exercise goal or goals: Are you exercising for physical fitness, weight control, or as a way of keeping your stress levels low?
Exercise: How Much You Need
"How much exercise is enough for what?," asks David Bassett, Jr., PhD, a professor in the department of exercise, sport, and leisure studies at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
For general health benefits, a routine of daily walking may be sufficient, says Susan Joy, MD, director of the Women's Sports Health Program at the Cleveland Clinic.
If your goal is more specific — say, to lower your blood pressure, improve your cardiovascular fitness, or lose weight — you'll need either more exercise or a higher intensity of exercise. So figure out your goals first, then determine what type of exercise will help you meet them and how much of that particular exercise you'll need to do.

Current Exercise Guidelines for Americans

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, everyone needs two types of physical activity each week: aerobics and muscle-strengthening activities. Aerobic activity involves repetitive use of the large muscles to temporarily increase heart rate and respiration. When repeated regularly, aerobic activity improves cardio-respiratory fitness. Running, brisk walking, swimming, and cycling are all forms of aerobic activity.
Muscle-strengthening activities are designed to work one or more muscle groups. All of the major muscle groups — legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms — should be worked on two or more days each week. Lifting weights, working with resistance bands, and doing pushups are all are forms of muscle-strengthening activities.
Adults need at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each week, in addition to muscle-strengthening activities. If activity is more vigorous in intensity, 75 minutes a week may be enough. For even greater health benefits, though, more activity is better: 300 minutes of moderate-intensity activity or 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity, or a mix of the two.
It's best to be active throughout the week, rather than concentrating all of your physical activity in one day. That means 30 to 60 minutes of exercise, five days a week. You can break it up into even smaller chunks: three brief periods of physical activity a day, for example. In order for it to be effective in improving health and fitness, you need to be sure to sustain the activity for at least 10 minutes at a time.
Exercise: What You Need to Lose or Maintain Weight
A combination of dieting and exercise is more effective for weight loss than dieting alone. To lose weight, 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity on most days is recommended. Physical activity is also important to maintain weight loss. Moderate intensity physical activity for 60 to 90 minutes on most days will help maintain weight loss. Of course, a healthful, low-calorie diet is also important for both losing and maintaining weight. The amount of exercise you need for weight loss or weight control depends on what you eat, as well as on the type of exercise you choose.
Know what you want to achieve, and then you can answer the question: How much exercise is enough?

Exercise and Physical Activity: What's the Difference?

Physical activity is defined as movement that involves contraction of your muscles. Any of the activities we do throughout the day that involve movement — housework, gardening, walking, climbing stairs — are examples of physical activity.
Exercise is a specific form of physical activity — planned, purposeful physical activity performed with the intention of acquiring fitness or other health benefits, says David Bassett, Jr., PhD, a professor in the department of exercise, sport, and leisure studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Working out at a health club, swimming, cycling, running, and sports, like golf and tennis, are all forms of exercise.
Physical Activity and Exercise: Understanding the Difference
Most daily physical activity is considered light to moderate in intensity. There are certain health benefits that can only be accomplished with more strenuous physical activity, however. Improvement in cardiovascular fitness is one example. Jogging or running provides greater cardiovascular benefit than walking at a leisurely pace, for instance. Additionally, enhanced fitness doesn't just depend of what physical activity you do, it also depends on how vigorously and for how long you continue the activity. That’s why it’s important to exercise within your target heart rate range when doing cardio, for example, to reach a certain level of intensity.
Physical Activity and Exercise: Understanding Intensity
How can you tell if an activity is considered moderate or vigorous in intensity? If you can talk while performing it, it's moderate. If you need to stop to catch your breath after saying just a few words, it's vigorous. Depending on your fitness level, a game of doubles tennis would probably be moderate in intensity, while a singles game would be more vigorous. Likewise, ballroom dancing would be moderate, but aerobic dancing would be considered vigorous. Again, it's not just your choice of activity, it's how much exertion it requires.

Physical Activity and Exercise: Components of Physical Fitness
Ideally, an exercise program should include elements designed to improve each of these components:

• Cardio-respiratory endurance. Enhance your respiratory endurance — your ability to engage in aerobic exercise — through activities such as brisk walking, jogging, running, cycling, swimming, jumping rope, rowing, or cross-country skiing. As you reach distance or intensity goals, reset them higher or switch to a different activity to keep challenging yourself.
• Muscular strength. You can increase muscular strength most effectively by lifting weights, using either free weights like barbells and dumbbells or weight machines.
• Muscular endurance. Improve your endurance through calisthenics (conditioning exercises), weight training, and activities such as running or swimming.
• Flexibility. Work to increase your level of flexibility through stretching exercises that are done as part of your workout or through a discipline like yoga or pilates that incorporates stretching.

While it's possible to address all of these fitness components with a physically active lifestyle, an exercise program can help you achieve even greater benefits.
Increasing the amount of physical activity in your everyday life is a good start — like parking a few blocks from your destination to get in some walking. But to really achieve fitness goals, you’ll want to incorporate structured, vigorous activities into your schedule to help you attain even more of your fitness and health goals.

The Lifelong Benefits of Exercise

Feel younger, live longer. It's no slogan — these are actual benefits of regular exercise. People with high levels of physical fitness are at lower risk of dying from a variety of causes, according to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Physical Fitness: What the Benefits of Exercise Mean for You
There's more good news. Research also shows that exercise enhances sleep, prevents weight gain, and reduces the risk of high blood pressure, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and even depression.
"One study found that when breast cancer survivors engaged in exercise, there were marked improvements in physical activity, strength, maintaining weight, and social well-being," explains Rachel Permuth-Levine, PhD, deputy director for the Office of Strategic and Innovative Programs at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.
"Another study looked at patients with stable heart failure and determined that exercise relieves symptoms, improves quality of life, reduces hospitalization, and in some cases, reduces the risk of death," adds Dr. Permuth-Levine. She points out that exercise isn't just important for people who are already living with health conditions: "If we can see benefits of moderate exercise in people who are recovering from disease, we might see even greater benefits in those of us who are generally well."

Physical Fitness: Exercise Basics

Physical activity doesn't have to be strenuous to produce results. Even moderate exercise five to six times a week can lead to lasting health benefits.
When incorporating more physical activity into your life, remember three simple guidelines:

1. Exercise at moderate intensity for at least 2 hours and 30 minutes spread over the course of each week.
2. Avoid periods of inactivity; some exercise at any level of intensity is better than none.
3. At least twice a week, supplement aerobic exercise (cardio) with weight-bearing activities that strengthen all major muscle groups.

Physical Fitness: Making Exercise a Habit
The number one reason most people say they don't exercise is lack of time. If you find it difficult to fit extended periods of exercise into your schedule, keep in mind that short bouts of physical activity in 10-minute segments will nonetheless help you achieve health benefits. Advises Permuth-Levine, "Even in the absence of weight loss, relatively brief periods of exercise every day reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease."
Set realistic goals and take small steps to fit more movement into your daily life, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator and walking to the grocery store instead of driving. "The key is to start gradually and be prepared," says Permuth-Levine. "Have your shoes, pedometer, and music ready so you don't have any excuses."
To help you stick with your new exercise habit, vary your routine, like swimming one day and walking the next. Get out and start a baseball or soccer game with your kids. Even if the weather doesn't cooperate, have a plan B — use an exercise bike in your home, scope out exercise equipment at a nearby community center, or consider joining a health club. The trick is to get to the point where you look at exercise like brushing your teeth and getting enough sleep — as essential to your well-being.
Remember that physical fitness is attainable. Even with small changes, you can reap big rewards that will pay off for years to come.