Being physically active can improve your health — today, tomorrow, and in the future. However, most people do not do enough physical activity. People of all types, shapes, sizes, and abilities can benefit from being physically active. The more you do, the greater the health benefits and the better you'll feel. The information and tips below can help you learn ways to add physical activity to your life.
- What is physical activity?
- Why is physical activity important?
- How much physical activity is needed?
- How many calories does physical activity use (burn)?
- Tips for increasing physical activity
The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition (2018) is an essential resource for health professionals and policymakers as they design and implement physical activity programs, policies, and promotion initiatives. It provides information that helps Americans make healthy choices for themselves and their families, and discusses evidence-based, community-level interventions that can make being physically active the easy choice in all the places where people live, learn, work, and play. Move Your Way is the updated guidelines' promotional campaign, the goal of which is to help people live healthier lives through increased physical activity. Fact sheets, posters, videos, interactive tools, and web badges and widgets are available.
The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Midcourse Report: Strategies to Increase Physical Activity Among Youth (2012) identifies interventions that can help increase physical activity in youth ages 3 to 17 years across a variety of settings. The primary audiences for the report are policymakers, health care and public health professionals.
Information about physical activity and health is also available on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) physical activity page.