US Dietary Guidelines - Exercise

Not only did the Dietary Guidelines of 2010 recommend what food we should eat, but also the exercises we should be doing. They even broke it down by age group. Here's some of the recommendations made by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and US Department Health and Human Services (HHS).

6 to 17 Years Old

Exercise

They start at six years old with recommendations. I would agree that no exercise guidelines are needed for little people less than six years old. Having raised three children myself, they could do with less exercise.

People of this age bracket should perform sixty minutes or more of physical activity a day. Most of the sixty minutes should be aerobic activity. As part of this sixty minutes they should also include muscle-building and bone strengthening, at least three days a week. Beyond this they should be encourage to do physical activities that they like.

18 to 64 Years

This is the age group I am in, closer to the top end of this bracket though. Having exercised for over thirty years, I do not agree with two parts of the recommendation.

They recommend that adults should get 150 minutes of physical activity, moderate intensity, or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity. Then they go on to say that aerobic activity should be done in spurts of 10 minutes.

For those in good physical shape, they should increase their aerobic activity to 300 minutes or more. Then they go on to recommend muscle-strengthening exercise two days a week or more. No time limit is given on how much muscle strengthening exercise should be done.

The two parts I do not agree with are:
First, vigorous activities have no benefit if only done for only 10 minutes. I have always recommended at least 20 minutes of vigorous activity to see any benefit at all. The second part I do not agree with is muscle training two days a week. I have always recommended at least three days a week, for at least twenty minutes.

65 years and older

Basically they say do the 18 to 64 recommendations if you can. If not, do the best you can.

My Recommendations

I am a year away from the 65-year-old age bracket. Here is what I do to remain fit.

I used to run till arthritis took over. So for my aerobic exercise, I ride a stationary bike for 50 minutes at about 17 miles per hour. Then I do strength training for 20 minutes.

In strength training, I do different parts of the body each day. I do legs one day, chest and shoulders the next and arms on the third day. Then I skip a day, still do my bike ride, and start the cycle over.

US Dietary Guidelines - Exercise