This week we discuss an article looking at adherence to aerobic and muscular strengthening guidelines across 32 countries. For adults and older adults, the WHO activity guidelines are: 150-300 min of moderate aerobic or 75-150 min of vigorous aerobic activity per week, and 2 days per week of muscle strengthening of moderate intensity. It is important to meet both guidelines as this relates to various health related outcomes, like risk for cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality. The meta-analysis showed just 17% of adults over 18 years old meet both aerobic and strengthening criteria. A few trends when they grouped data by sub-populations: men were more likely to meet guidelines than women, only 8% of those with a low level of education met guidelines while 26% of those with a higher education level met guidelies, and only about 20% of people who self reported that they have good or better health are meeting guidelines. There are many socioeconomic factors that influece whether someone is able to meet guidelines, like access to transportation and facilities, infrastructure allowing active commuting, and available time to commit to exercise. Since such a small percentage of the population is actually meeting guidelines, as fitness professionals we have a duty to lower barriers to exercise and help people build healthy fitness habits so meeting guidelines may feel a little more doable.

The abstract can be found here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36418149/

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