As mentioned in my previous article, the first evidence of widespread malnutrition as a health problem was established in the 1950’s by Jeremy Morris. However, it was not until 1978 that the first guidelines for physical activity were written and published by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). These guidelines emphasized that the key to developing and maintaining cardiorespiratory strength and fitness was physical fitness 3-5 days a week for 15-60 min a day.
On the other hand, when you look closely at the subjects on which these recommendations were based, it seems that the study methods were somewhat flawed due to their selection of participants and small samples. Most studies until 1978, when the ACSM recommendations were published, were mainly used by young male college students and small sample sizes of about 20 students.
Therefore, this leads to one questioning the results from these studies as they may not have been generalized. Also, this recommendation for greater physical activity may be the result of the use of young and fit men who may be expected to require greater burden to strengthen their fitness capacity than the example of middle or older men. In addition, these guidelines were based on exercise training to improve one’s breathing ability. Therefore, it is not just for the general public who may want and need guidelines to maintain good health.
As a result, the ACSM guidelines were amended in 1990. The new guidelinesMake the point that the 1978guidelines may haveBeen incorrect in terms of strength and also make a clearDistinction betweenEExercise and fitness: “It is now clear that lower levels of exercise than recommended by this position statement may reduce the risk of adequate or quality enhancement o2max. ACSM recognizes the health benefits of regular and long-term exercise, but with less energy than stated in this position statement “.
Therefore, from the ACSM (1990) guidelines to date, pressure has been reduced to 50% of the mean heart rate (MHRR) and reduced to 40% of MHRR for people with low activity / intensity levels. This could be the result of a variety of factors such as research showing that people are more likely to work when it contains less to moderate thickness than high energy.
Also, from the ACSM (1990) guidelines another motive was amended. The initial duration of the exercise was increased by 5 minutes to compensate for the weight loss. ACSM(1990):”development will be similar to activitiesPerformed during the lowDuration of the period compared to the higherDurability period if the energyCosts of the activities are equal.”
Already in 1995/96the guidelinesWere amendedAgain, but this time not by theACSM, but by the U.S. Government. This has taken into account new research. Therefore, instead of recommending only physical activity 3-5 days a week now it was too many days or maybe every day a week for at least 30 min a day. In addition, it was noted that these 30 min of exercise per day can be divided into intervals of -108-10 min. However, not many studies have been done in less than 8-10 min so it is clear that even short amounts of exercise create health benefits. However, Drs. Michael Mosley in his book “The Truth About Exercise” suggests that exercising for just three minutes a day can increase a person’s physical fitness.
However, these general amendments can be seen in the light of the general changes in physical activity guidelines. The ACSM guidelines from 1978 and 1990 seem to be very specific and perhaps very focused on exercise training that may lead people to think that if they cannot adhere to those guidelines it will be of no use or limit.
Therefore, the guidelines have gradually changed from being isolated to being more social, lifestyle and health-focused. These changes have also led to an increase in health promotion interventions that address the need for people to work harder, not just for their own benefit, but also to reduce the costs directly caused by direct and indirect physical inactivity.
However, it was not until the publication of the guidelines, “At least Five Weeks a Week”, that 2004 it was made clear what those goals really meant in terms of balance and physical fitness. Until then there have been no clear explanations and examples of the types of power guidelines that may have made it very difficult for the general public to understand the guidelines and people may have even misinterpreted them.
Furthermore, there was no real consensus in the guidelines on whether or not to include flexibility. This may be due to the fact that complex flexibility is difficult to assess and therefore the evidence shows conflicting effects on whether stretching is beneficial to health and reduces theRisk of injury to the generalPublic. Most of the research is done on athletes and therefore in sports performance settings that may not be representative of the general public.
Another obvious issue that needs to be addressed when discussing physical activity guidelines and evolution is that studies have become the primary evidence for guidelines and in addition ACSM guidelines use the terms “exercise”, “exercise” and “fitness” differently.
