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Parents & Caregivers
Types and levels of activity girls need
You may feel confused by all the information about getting active and staying fit. But exercise doesn't have to be very complicated. Just encourage a girl to pick a variety of activities that are right for her age. And remember that activities she likes are the ones she is most likely to do!
Keep reading to learn how to help girls get the most health benefits from being active. You also can look together at the girlshealth.gov section on fitness basics.
Girls should aim for at least 60 minutes of activity every day.
- Girls can be active for an hour all at once.
- If it's too hard to find an hour, they can spread activity throughout the day. They just need to be active for least 10 minutes at a time.
- Girls who haven't been active in a while should start slowly and work their way up to an hour a day.
Girls need a mix of three different kinds of activities.
- Aerobic activity gets a person's heart pumping and makes them breathe harder. Examples include walking quickly, dancing, and jumping rope. For the best health benefits:
- Girls should get aerobic activity every day.
- Most of a girl’s 60 minutes of daily activity should be aerobic.
- Muscle-strengthening activity makes muscles do more work than usual. Examples include doing push-ups and squats. Girlshealth.gov has tips on ways to strengthen different muscles.
- Bone-strengthening activity usually comes from exercise that gets a person's feet to hit the ground. Examples include walking, running, and jumping rope (but not swimming or biking).
- Girls need bone-strengthening activity on at least three days of the week as part of their 60 minutes of activity each day.
- Bone-strengthening is very important for girls to help prevent osteoporosis later in life.
Does this sound like a lot? Keep in mind that many activities fit all three types of activity. For example, jogging is aerobic, muscle-strengthening, and bone-strengthening.
Girls need to know how hard to work out.
- Activity can be light, moderate, or vigorous.
- Light activity means a girl won't sweat or breathe harder.
- Moderate activity is about halfway between sitting still and working as hard as a person can.
- Vigorous activity is around a 7 or 8 on a scale of 0 to 10.
- Most of a girl’s 60 or more minutes of daily activity should be moderate or vigorous. And she needs vigorous activity on at least three days each week.
- A girl's workout is likely too hard if she is in pain, can't catch her breath, or can't exercise for as long as she planned.
Warming up and stretching also are important.
- A girl can warm up by doing the same activity she’ll be doing, but at a slower pace. Warming up should take around 10 minutes.
- Stretching may help relax a girl’s body and, together with other exercises, may help avoid injury.
What about resistance training? You may have heard of (or even done) resistance training. This form of activity, which uses weights and other ways to work muscles, can have many benefits for girls. Just make sure to look for a trainer who has experience working with young people.
Content last updated May 17, 2011
