Well, these guidelines might not appear totally new but they officially supersede the 1998 American College of Sports Medicine Position Stand on exercise.
In the July 2011 Official Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine (www.acsm.org ), the new Position Stand has been released to help health professionals provide exercise guidelines to individuals.
Basically, here is what's recommended:
- at least 150 minutes of cardiovascular exercise per week (at least 30 mins, 5x/week)
- of those 150 minutes, 75 minutes should be intense
- resistance exercises (strength-training) 2-3 times per week
- flexibility exercises (stretching) 2 or more days per week
- if these guidelines cannot be reached, a lesser amount of exercise can also be beneficial
The Position Stand is a 26-page document so I decided to post a summary news article on the topic instead: http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/la-heb-exercise-guidelines-20110628,0,7367747.story
Talk to a health professional to get an exercise prescription that works for you.
