Exercise. We are told by our doctors, health educators, parents, friends, and coworkers to exercise. Everyone knows they have to do it, yet less than a quarter of Americans are actually meeting the guidelines. The number to remember is 23%. This is the percent of all Americans that actually hit both of the physical activity recommended guidelines. 32% of Americans are meeting at least one, but not both. This percentage still does not equate to being close to half of all americans.
The Federal physical activity guidelines recommend that adults get a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise each week. They should also be getting an additional two days of muscle strengthening exercises at least twice a week.
Gender, Occupation, Location
There were confounding factors that were found to fluctuate these numbers such as gender, occupation, and home state. Men were more likely then women to meet both of the guidelines than women. Working class individuals were more likely to meet these guidelines as well in both genders.
Location played a prominent role in the percentage of Americans meeting these guidelines as well. Some states such as Colorado, saw percentages that surpassed the average percentages. States in the south such as Mississippi reported as low as 13% of Americans meeting the physical activity guidelines. This isn’t surprising being there are high rates of chronic disease found in the south, due to negative health behaviors.
Certain characteristics of some states, such as having high levels of disability and unemployment, had a high correlation with lower rates of meeting guidelines as well.
What’s The Verdict?
This shows that Americans should try to squeeze more time in to get in some exercise everyday. 150 minutes per week comes out to equal only 2.5 hours per week. 2.5 hours can equal 5 days worth of 30 minutes of exercise for the week. These 30 minutes can even be broken up into three ten minute intervals during the day. Start with ten minutes per day, than triple that. Feeling adventurous, then start adding on more days in the week until you end with five days per week.
So as Dr. Mike Evans says in his video, even after exercising for 30 minutes you still have 23.5 hrs left in your day, right?
Article written by GUADS member Breanna, with contributions from time.com