Setting and reaching your fitness goals

About 80% of adults in the U.S. don't get the suggested amount of overall physical activity. For most healthy adults, the Department of Health and Human Services recommends these exercise guidelines:

• Aerobic activity. Get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity a week. Or get 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity or an equal mix of moderate and vigorous activity. Brisk walking for about 30 minutes most days of the week is a great way to meet this goal.
• Daily exercise. Aim to exercise most days of the week. For even more benefits, aim for about 300 minutes of aerobic activity a week. You can meet this goal by walking for 60 minutes at least five days a week. Exercising this much may help with weight loss or keeping off lost weight.
• Every little bit of movement counts. Some physical activity is better than none. Being active for short periods of time most days can add up and have health benefits.
• Strength training. Do strength training exercises for all major muscle groups at least two times a week. One set of each exercise is enough for health and fitness benefits. Use a weight or resistance level heavy enough to tire your muscles after about 12 to 15 repetitions, and make sure your technique and form for strength training is correct.

Walking is an easy physical activity to begin and to make a part of a healthier lifestyle. If you're not walking much yet, keep that in mind as you think about your long-term goals. Gradually add more steps every day or add to the amount of time you walk each day to help avoid injury and stay motivated to keep walking.

An activity tracker gives immediate feedback about your activity level. It can serve as a strong motivator to get you started and keep you moving. It also can help you track your progress over time.

Use these tips to make your activity tracker a part of your daily routine. But remember that the ideal number of steps may be different from one person to the next:

• Find your baseline. When you first get your tracker, wear it throughout the day for about a week. Go about your routine activities at home or work. At the end of the week, add up the total number of steps for each day and divide that total by 7. This gives you an average number of steps to use as a baseline. The baseline is also called the current average. Keep your current average in mind as you add more steps each day. Aim to walk 30 minutes a day. See how many more steps you take above your daily baseline. Add this number of steps to your baseline number to reach short-term step goals.
• Set and reset short-term step goals. Once you have your baseline step count, you can set some short-term activity goals. If you take 2,000 steps a day, set a short-term goal of adding 200 to 500 steps a day for one week. When you meet a short-term goal, add a new one.
• Set long-term step goals. Think about your overall fitness and activity goals. Your short-term goals are the building blocks to these long-term goals. A long-term goal may be to walk 10,000 steps a day — about 5 miles (8 kilometers) — several times a week as part of a daily routine. Some studies suggest that walking 10,000 steps a day may help a person live a healthier and longer life. Or your goal might be to walk briskly for 30 minutes, five days a week. You also may want to set a goal of walking faster as your fitness level improves. For females between 18 and 59 years, a large meta-analysis showed that walking between 6,000 and 8,000 steps a day has the greatest effect on lowering the risk of disease and reducing the risk of death.
• Track your progress. To see how you're doing, monitor your progress over time. Some trackers have a memory function to track steps on a weekly or monthly basis. You also can record your steps in a log that you make. Or upload the digital information to your computer or mobile device. Tracking your progress can help you see whether you're meeting your goals and when it may be time to set fresh goals.