A quick way to count one week of activity the way the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans do: moderate and vigorous minutes, the 2-to-1 rule, and the days of strength work.
Moderate: brisk walking, or anything where you can talk but not sing. Vigorous: running, or anything where you cannot say more than a few words without pausing for a breath. Leave a day empty if you did nothing.
Your week, by the guidelines
0 moderate-equivalent minutes
How Much Exercise Do Adults Need? The Federal Numbers, Explained →Walking Plans for Busy People →Strength Training With No Gym →The 10-Minute Home Workout →
General information, not medical advice. If you have a chronic condition or have not been active for a while, talk to a health care provider before you add vigorous activity. The numbers stay in your browser.
Where the answers come from
The check follows the key guidelines for adults in the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition, from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: 150 to 300 minutes a week of moderate-intensity activity, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity, or an equivalent combination, plus muscle-strengthening activities that involve all major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week.
To combine the two intensities, the check uses the guidelines’ own rule of thumb: 1 minute of vigorous activity counts the same as 2 minutes of moderate activity. The level names are the guidelines’ too: inactive, insufficiently active (some activity, but less than the equivalent of 150 minutes), active (150 to 300) and highly active (more than 300).
It does not count light activity such as slow walking or household chores, and it cannot tell whether your strength sessions work all major muscle groups. Older adults, women during pregnancy and adults with chronic conditions have their own chapters in the guidelines. More in How Much Exercise Do Adults Need? The Federal Numbers, Explained.