An Overview of Current Physical Activity Recommendations in Primary Care

Abstract

Primary care physicians should encourage their patients to engage in adequate physical activity. Current recommendations for physical activity in adults are as follows: at least 150–300 minutes per week of moderate-intensity, 75–150 minutes per week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity. Adults should also perform muscle-strengthening activities of moderate intensity or higher that involve all major muscle groups for 2 or more days per week. The elderly should perform additional balance training and fall prevention exercises more than 3 times a week. Children and adolescents should perform at least 1 hour of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily, which includes vigorous aerobic activity at least 3 days per week. As part of their 60 minutes or more of daily physical activity, resistance training and bone strengthening exercise should be done at least 3 days per week. According to new evidence, one bout of any exercises can be shorter than 10 minutes. Previously, physical activities were recommended for more than 10 minutes. For patients with diabetes, it is advisable to perform resistance exercise or short-distance running before aerobic exercise to prevent hypoglycemia. New evidence shows that dynamic resistance training is safe and effective in patients with hypertension provided the load is not too heavy. Exercise reduces pain and improves quality of life and physical function in patients with osteoarthritis,. Therefore, the treatment guidelines for osteoarthritis have been changed recently from not recommending exercise to highly recommending it.