American College of Sports Medicine Exercise Guidelines

An exercise program needs to be well rounded, taking into consideration cardiovascular fitness, strength training, and flexibility.   Each component of a fitness program has its own recommendations to follow for frequency, intensity, duration, and mode of activity.

The American College of Sports Medicine makes the following recommendations for an exercise program for a healthy adult to develop and maintain cardiovascular fitness, strength training and flexibility.   It is recommended that you check with your personal physician before starting any exercise program.

The following guidelines will be very helpful to you in your adventure into exercise!   Remember to ease yourself into a routine so you can and will stick to it.
If you have any further questions or concerns regarding your exercise program, please call us at (513) 584-5900 or (513) 584-5909 for a consultation or send an e-mail Patricia.Woellert@uc.edu.

Cardiovascular Training
Frequency -- 3-5 days per week
Intensity -- Low to moderate intensity, approximately 55/65-90% of estimated maximum heart rate
Duration -- Approximately 20-60 minutes of continuous activity
Mode of Activity -- Continuous, rhythmical and aerobic using large muscle groups (walking, jogging, cycling, swimming, rowing, in-line skating, stair climbing, aerobic dance and cross country skiing)

It is important to increase the amount of time and intensity of your exercise gradually.   When beginning an exercise program, 5-10 minutes of activity may be all you can do.

Resistance Training
Frequency -- 2-3 days per week with at least one day of rest between workouts; do not do resistance training on consecutive days
Sets -- A minimum of one set, 8-12 repetitions to near muscular failure for general fitness
Number of Exercises -- A minimum of 8-10 exercises involving the major muscle groups
Speed -- Moderate to slow; each repetition should be approximately six seconds (3 up, 3 down)
Range of Motion -- Exercises should be performed through a full range of motion and should be pain free

Flexibility
Flexibility exercises (stretching) should be included with every exercise session.  Before stretching, warm up with 5-10 minutes of light cycling, walking, rowing, etc.   Each stretch should be held for 15-30 seconds and repeated 2-4 times, alternating sides.
DO NOT stretch to the point of pain.