Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans From the US Department of Health and Human Services

November 2018 1 © 2018 American Heart Association, Inc. The American Heart Association focuses on reducing factors known to increase risk for heart disease and stroke through Life’s Simple 7. By focusing on these factors, American Heart Association seeks to both improve the cardiovascular health of all Americans and reduce deaths from cardiovascular disease and stroke by 20% by the year 2020.1 Physical activity has a strong and positive impact on several of these factors—blood pressure, blood glucose, and body weight, in addition to overall risk for cardiovascular disease incidence and mortality. With the recent release of the second edition of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (PAG),2 more is known about the benefits of physical activity, and the news is good—benefits start even earlier and are easier to obtain than was previously thought. The PAG is based on the work of a 17-member Advisory Committee that conducted an extensive review of the literature on physical activity and health. The Advisory Committee graded the evidence as strong, moderate, limited, or grade not assignable and summarized its findings in the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee Scientific Report.3 Evidence graded as strong or moderate was used as the basis for the PAG. Some of the strongest evidence was on risk factors for cardiovascular disease that can be modified by physical activity, including blood pressure, blood glucose, blood lipids, and body weight. The PAG recommends that adults do at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity a week, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorousintensity activity, or an equivalent combination of moderateand vigorous-intensity activity. The key guidelines for adults are described in Table 1. Intensity can be measured in different ways but generally can be determined using the talk test. During moderate-intensity activity, a person can talk, but not sing. During vigorous-intensity activity, a person cannot say more than a few words without pausing for a breath. Adults should also do muscle-strengthening activities of moderate or greater intensity, and that involve all major muscle groups on ≥2 days a week. Currently, only 22% of adults meet the combined aerobic and muscle-strengthening targets, whereas 36% report doing no leisure-time physical activity.4