Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs
A Guide for Schools

A: Time should be devoted to aerobic, muscle-strengthening, and bone-strengthening activities as follows:

• Aerobic: Most of the 60 or more minutes per day should be either moderate- or vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity. Vigorous-intensity physical activity should be included at least three days per week.
• Muscle-strengthening: Include muscle-strengthening physical activity on at least three days per week as part of the 60 or more minutes.
• Bone-strengthening: Include bone-strengthening physical activity on at least three days per week as part of the 60 or minutes.

A: Activities should be age-appropriate, enjoyable, and offer variety. Activities through which students increase their respiration or heart rates or become fatigued after engaging in the activity for several minutes are all aerobic activities. Examples include brisk walking, jogging, or jumping rope.

A: Examples of muscle-strengthening activities include lifting weights, working with resistance bands, heavy gardening, and yoga. Activities such as this should e done at least two days a week and should work all the major muscle groups of your body. To gain health benefits, muscle-strengthening activities need to be done to the point where it is hard to do another repetition without help. A repetition is one complete movement of an activity.

A: Examples of bone-strengthening activities include games such as hop-scotch, jumping rope, running, or sports such as gymnastics, basketball, volleyball, or tennis.