Fitness Articles

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services announced new physical activity guidelines today, the first update since 2008. The reason is rooted in the fact that today’s workforce spends a lot more time seated, burning an estimated 140 calories fewer than the average worker in 1960. Here’s a sample of these new recommendations.

KEY GUIDELINES

Preschool Children

Children between the ages of 3 and 5 should participate in a variety of physical activities throughout the day to enhance growth and development.

Children & Adolescents

From age 6 through 17, individuals should engage in at least an hour of moderate to vigorous aerobic and muscle strengthening activity at least 3 days a week.

Adults

Sitting less and moving more is recommended. Adults should strive to perform 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic effort each week or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity effort. Muscle strengthening exercises should be performed 2 or more days per week.

Exercise helps burn calories, and that calorie burning continues even when you aren't training. In an interesting finding, researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School determined the rate of calorie burning at rest fluctuates throughout the day. The study was published in the journal Current Biology.

To measure their metabolic rate independent of activity and food consumption, subjects lived in a room without clocks or windows and slept during specific times that were adjusted 4 hours later each day. This forced their internal circadian clock to operate at its own pace.

Resting energy expenditure was lowest late at night when there is a slight drop in core body temperature. Energy expenditure when your body is at rest is typically highest in the afternoon and early evening.