Strenuous exercise still "explicitly" recommended

16 July 2009

Scientists say that doing light or moderate exercise is beneficial, but not enough, according to a new report.

The paper, published by the American Heart Association in the medical journal Circulation, has stated that vigorous activity is still needed in order to maintain a high level of good health.

Some of the authors of the publication were originally part of the study that recommended adults should partake in mild activity for half an hour on five days a week. They have said that they feel their original guidance was "misinterpreted".

The new recommendations state that adults should spend at least 30 minutes on moderate exercise five times a week, 20 minutes on vigorous aerobic activity twice a week and weight training twice a week.

"Some people continue to believe that only vigorous intensity activity will improve health while others believe that the light activities of their daily lives are sufficient to promote health," the study's authors wrote.

A recent study from Queen's University in Belfast found that spending half an hour doing light activities three times a week could reduce the risk of heart disease and lower blood pressure.

Speaking to the Guardian, professor of exercise and obesity at Leeds Metropolitan University Paul Gately said on the differing advice: "Scientists keep changing the goalposts but this advice is trying to provide more specific information for specific groups of people to encourage them to do appropriate exercise."