Click on the links below to jump to each section.
General guidelines
Physical activity guidelines for children & teens
Physical activity guidelines for adults
Older adults guidelines
Tips for becoming more physically active

General guidelines

General physical activity guidelines for most Americans
Provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Science-based guidance based on their major findings. They recommend the following:

• Participate in regular physical activity because it reduces the risk of many poor health outcomes.
• Benefits increase as the intensity, frequency, and duration of physical activity increase.
• Any physical activity is better than none.
• Both aerobic (endurance) AND muscle-strengthening (resistance) activities are important.
• Health benefits occur for every age, race, and gender through physical activity.
• Benefits of physical activity outweigh the possibility of negative outcomes.

Fact Sheet
A two-page summary [PDF] of these guidelines.

Physical activity guidelines for children & teenagers

Children and adolescents should do at least 60 minutes of physical activity daily, including:

• Aerobic exercises: Either moderate- or vigorous-intensity exercise daily, but vigorous-intensity exercise at least three times a week.
• Muscle-strengthening exercises: At least three times a week.
• Bone-strengthening exercises: At least three times a week.

For children, HHS uses the following as their guidelines for exercise intensity:

• Brisk walking is a moderate-intensity activity. [Based on average levels of effort for these activities.]
• Running is a vigorous-intensity activity. [Based on average levels of effort for these activities.]

Physical activity guidelines for adults

• To experience health benefits, adults should do at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity exercise, or 75 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity exercise. Include aerobic activity for at least 10 minutes at a time, preferably throughout the week.
• For additional health benefits, adults should do aerobic physical activity of moderate intensity for 300 minutes (five hours) weekly, or 150 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise.
• Do muscle-strengthening activities (of moderate or high intensity) that involve all major muscle groups at least twice a week.
• A general guideline for determining exercise intensity and time spent exercising is that two minutes of moderate-intensity activity is equal to one minute of vigorous-intensity activity.

Examples of moderate-intensity exercise include walking briskly at a rate of three miles per hour or faster, water aerobics, general gardening...

Examples of vigorous-intensity exercise include racewalking, jogging, running, swimming, jumping rope.

Older adults guidelines

• If you cannot meet the guidelines for adults (described above), be as physically active as your abilities and conditions allow.
• Do exercises that maintain or improve balance to counteract the risk of falling.
• Determine a level of effort for exercise that is appropriate to your level of fitness.
• Assess whether chronic conditions impact the safety of doing regular physical activity.

Tips for becoming more physically active

Let’s Move
The First Lady of the United States is vigorously promoting the importance of physical activity – at all ages. This initiative and provides physical fitness, nutrition, and overall health promotion tips and resources. For example:

Let’s Move Outside
Promotes a range of healthy outdoor activities for children and families across the country. This could also help military families, who frequently relocate, find outdoor activities in new areas.

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Hooah4Health
The Army website has information on exercising, including a weight management tracker and general information on fitness for life.

FitFamily
At the Air Force website, families can get information on exercise and ideas for activities to do as a family, and you can sign up to receive more information on being fit. You can choose topics or activities or even share activities that work for you and your family.

Fitness, Sports and Deployed Forces Support
The Navy website that provides fitness information, including a virtual personal trainer and information, pictures, and videos of exercises.

Fitness & Health
The Marine Corps website describes the link between physical fitness and mortality and highlights functional fitness with a functional combat training program. They are also in the process of developing a fitness program specifically geared towards family members. We'll provide more information as it unfolds.

Health Promotion and Physical Activity
The Coast Guard's website includes a downloadable Health and Fitness Assessment data sheet complete with tables for comparing your scores with general standards.

Click on the links below to jump to each section.
Measuring physical activity and body weight
Calculate your target heart rate
Calculate your optimal body weight

Measuring physical activity and body weight

Body mass index (BMI) is a commonly used general measure for overall health. It is a measure that uses the weight and height of a person to estimate “size.” It is not as accurate as body fat measurements, but it does provide an easy-to-obtain estimate of weight status.

• BMI scores are then categorized into “normal weight,” “underweight,” overweight,” and “obese” (the obese category has three classes: I, II, and III).
• For adult men and women, a BMI of less than 16.5 is considered severely underweight, from 16.5-18.5 is underweight, from 18.5-25 is normal weight, 25-30 is overweight, and a BMI of 30-35 is Obese Class I, 35-40 is Class II, and over 40 is Obese Class III.
• A higher BMI (i.e., being overweight or obese) has been linked to increased risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stroke, and additional health problems.

The following websites allow adults to calculate their BMI:

The CDC website

Army Hooah4Health website

Calculate your child's BMI. Optimal body weight is harder to calculate for children and teens. Since children grow at different rates depending on their age and gender, the adult BMI calculator cannot be used for children and teens. Body mass index percentile is generally used for children and teens to estimate body weight by taking their gender, age, and height into consideration.

Calculate your target heart rate

To optimize your time and health benefits, experts suggest working out your target heart rate.

This calculator allows you to determine your target heart rate for a safe and effective workout. Note: If you are not in shape, are taking medication, or have a health condition, always check with your doctor before applying the target heart rate range in your workouts.

Heart Rate Zone Calculator
An article from the American Council on Exercise, a nonprofit fitness organization, about measuring heart rate, your target heart rate, and heart rate training zones.

Calculate your optimal body weight

Calculate your ideal body weight. Hooah4Health's tool allows you to enter your height and gender. Many people judge whether they are healthy by their body weight. However, body weight is just one part of a multidimensional approach that should be used when assessing your physical fitness and health.

Can I measure the calories I expend during physical activity?
The American Council on Exercise's calculator allows you to put in your body weight, the activity, and the time spent, and it will estimate how many calories you burned. If you want to lose or maintain weight, knowing how many calories you use through physical activity is an important puzzle piece (along with nutrition).

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The American College of Sports Medicine
ACSM, the nonprofit sports and conditioning organization, has an area of their website where you'll find:

• Pre-exercise health assessment
• Assessment on your barriers to exercise
• Exercise time in your everyday schedule
• Worksheet to help you assess your goals and make a plan to exercise
• Worksheet on making exercise a ritual
• Worksheet on weighing the costs or benefits of exercise

They also provide quick, full-body strength and stretching workouts:

• Basic body-weight strength exercise program
• Basic stretching program

Exercise is Medicine [video]
The ACSM's video and information series to help you learn some additional exercises that can help you and your family get in shape or stay in shape.

Basic Strength Training at Home [video]
An ACSM video for some basic moves you can do at home. They demonstrate the genie squat, push-up, crunch, bicep curls with free weights, and upper-back row with exercise tubing.

Exercise is Medicine [video]
Flexibility exercises you can do anywhere. This video describes how to easily warm up and then do a stretching routine that includes low-back, hamstring, quad, and shoulder stretches.

Aerobic Exercise: Intensity [video]
This ACSM video describes how intensely you should work out using a basic technique called the "talk test."

Types of Aerobic Exercise [video]
An ACSM video describes the three types of aerobic exercise: 1) no impact (elliptical or bike), 2) low impact (walking), and 3) high impact (running, jogging).

Travel Exercises

Travel exercises from Navy Fitness. A quick workout that you can do when away, primarily with a resistance tube and body weight.