New Fitness Guidelines For A Healthy Heart

WEDNESDAY, 7 NOVEMBER 2007

(NewsTarget) - The American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association have released new guidelines for physical activity that recommend that healthy adults ages 18 to 65 exercise a minimum of five days per week in order to promote health and prevent disease. The new guidelines were published in Med Sci Sports Exerc 2007; 39:1423�34.

Specifically, the guidelines recommend:

Moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity, such as brisk walking, for 30 minutes five days per week, or vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, such as jogging, for 20 minutes three days per week.
Muscle strengthening activity, such as weight training, a minimum of two nonconsecutive days per week, which should include 8 to 10 exercises repeated 8 to 12 times.

The lead author of the new guidelines, William Haskell, PhD, professor of Medicine at Stanford University's Prevention Research Center, says �Following the current recommendations will lead to an increase in cardiovascular and muscle fitness, help achieve and maintain a healthy body weight, and assist in the prevention of chronic degenerative diseases such as coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and some types of cancer.� (Dr Emily A Kane)

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