What percentage of adults receive the recommended amount of physical activity each week?

No one can deny the health benefits of getting regular exercise. Regular physical activity is a major piece of the healthy lifestyle puzzle, but many Americans are falling short. With longer hours at work, heavy reliance on cars for transportation, responsibilities of children and family life, and too many at-home entertainment options, it’s easy to let that workout or trip to the gym slip under the rug time and time again. If you fall into the less-than-active category, brush up on the recommendations and benefits of regular exercise and take measures to get moving.

Exercise Rates

According to a well-being survey of 335,050 adults done by Gallup polls, 51.6 percent of Americans report exercising three or more days per week for at least 30 minutes. Not surprisingly, demographics played a role in the likelihood of a person getting regular exercise. People who tended to exercise the most were aged 18 to 26, earned more than $90,000 per year, lived in western states and were male. Regardless of other demographics, obese people were the least likely to exercise regularly, with 41.8 percent exercising three or more days per week.

Exercise Recommendations

The American College of Sports Medicine, considered a top fitness authority, recommends that adults accumulate at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity at least five days per week for basic fitness. Up the ante to vigorous exercise intensity and 30 minutes three days per week will get the job done. If you have goals beyond just achieving basic fitness, such as weight loss or sports enhancement, you’ll need to put in more exercise time. Additionally, people should round out a basic fitness routine with resistance and flexibility training at least two or three days per week.

Benefits

It’s not difficult to see the benefits of regular exercise on both physical and mental levels. The U.S Department of Health and Human Services acknowledges regular exercise as an effective way of preventing chronic illness such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease. Getting enough physical activity helps with weight management and prevents loss of muscularity and coordination due to aging. On a more short-term level, exercise enhances mood, reduces stress and contributes to a person’s overall feeling of well-being.

Tips

Since the amount of recommended exercise can be accumulated throughout the day, find little pockets of time to squeeze in more physical activity. Even if you only have 10 minutes to spare, walk around the building at work. Try riding your bike to do a nearby errand. While you wait for your child to finish soccer practice, jog around the park. Get up and play a fun game of backyard baseball. Give your four-legged friend some exercise with a stroll around the block. Recruit a relative, neighbor or friend to be your workout buddy to give you some accountability and make physical activities more enjoyable.

References

Writer Bio

Jilana Dennis is a health and fitness writer based out of San Antonio, Texas. Dennis is a nationally certified personal trainer with the American Council on Exercise and holds a B.S in exercise science from Illinois State University.

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Less than a quarter of Americans are getting enough exercise, based on federal standards.

Only 22.9% of U.S. adults from 18 to 64 met 2008 guidelines for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening exercise between 2010 and 2015, according to new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study on Thursday.

Government guidelines recommend leisure time exercise at least twice weekly. People should engage in “moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity for at least 150 minutes per week” or “vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity for at least 75 minutes per week,” or any combination.

Breaking down the numbers both by gender and by state offers a wide variance. The highest percentage of men meeting the government’s exercise guidelines was in Washington, D.C. at 40.3%.; the lowest for men was 17.7% in South Dakota.

The national average for men was 27.2%.

The highest percentage of women meeting the guidelines was in Colorado at 31.5%; the lowest was Mississippi at 9.7%. For women, the national average was 18.7%.

CDC

As you can see from the map above, 14 states plus the District of Columbia have significantly higher averages compared to the national average while 13 states are significantly lower.

The CDC notes that because the study only looks at leisure time exercise, exercise done for work, or even during a commute is not included. The study also explains that adults working in physically demanding jobs or engaging in physical activity as they commute to and from work may be less likely to engage in leisure time exercise. The measurements may therefore fail to account for total physical activity. The study speculates that this unmeasured variable — non-leisure time exercise — may be why New York ranks so low. Six percent of New Yorkers commute to work by walking.

Getting enough exercise is important (and not just to boost these CDC numbers). The CDC lists eight important health benefits to exercise: controlling weight, reducing risk of cardiovascular disease, reducing risk of Type 2 diabetes, reducing risk for certain cancers, strengthening bones and muscles, improving mental health, and improving ability to move through everyday activities.

So how can you up your exercise and meet the government guidelines? The CDC recommends that adults should engage in 150 minutes weekly of “moderate-intensity aerobic activity,” such as brisk walking, or 75 minutes of “vigorous-intensity aerobic activity” like running. In addition to this aerobic activity, people should do muscle strength exercises twice a week to work all of the major muscle groups.

Anything from yoga to weight lifting qualifies.

What percentage of adults meet the recommendation for physical activity?

How many adults get the recommended amount of weekly exercise?

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What percentage of adults exercise?