Regular physical activity (exercise) can help lower your risk for many diseases that affect women, including heart disease and stroke. Exercise can also help relieve symptoms of some conditions, such as depression, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure.
Getting Active
Being physically active is one of the most important steps you can take to get and stay healthy. Women of all ages and abilities benefit from getting active. Everyone should try to be active for at least 30 minutes every day. Physical activity, or exercise, will help you feel better and be healthier.
Regular physical activity (exercise) can help lower your risk for many diseases that affect women, including heart disease and stroke. Exercise can also help relieve symptoms of some conditions, such as depression, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure. Women need to do different types of physical activities to reach or stay at a healthy weight and build strength and endurance.
Getting regular physical activity is one of the best things you can do for your health. Regular physical activity can help:
Physical activity can help with your health when you get older. Regular physical activity helps:
Researchers know that the more physical activity you do, the more your health benefits. The more time you spend being active each week, the lower your risk is for dying early.
The Physical Activity Guidelines suggest that each week, women get at least:
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You should aim for these amounts, but any physical activity is better than no physical activity. Try to spread your activity out over the week so that you are active on at least three days. You need to be active for at least 10 minutes at a time to get health benefits.
Physical activity should be in addition to the normal activities of daily living, such as cleaning, walking from the parking lot, or taking public transportation.
Maybe. People who are underweight due to an eating disorder should not exercise unless their doctor tells them to. Your doctor or nurse can help you develop an exercise plan that is healthy and safe for a person of your current weight.
Women who have overweight or obesity should talk to their doctor or nurse about any concerns they have about beginning an exercise program. For most people, any amount or type of physical activity will help your overall health. Physical activity can also improve muscle strength, balance, and flexibility.
Check out these tips for getting started, and talk to your doctor or nurse about a plan that is right for you based on your fitness level.
Yes. Start slowly if you haven’t been physically active before or if it has been a while. Talk to your doctor or nurse about exercise if you have a health condition.
Check out these tips for getting started. Also, talk to your doctor or nurse about ways you can fit physical activity into your life.
Everyone is different. How quickly you burn calories when you are physically active can be very different from other people, based on your specific genes, biology, and past. While scientists know that there are 3,500 calories in a pound, burning 500 extra calories every day (or 3,500 calories in a week) does not always result in losing exactly one pound. This is also true if you eat 500 fewer calories every day for a week, for a total of 3,500 fewer calories in one week.
You can use the MyPlate Checklist Calculator to find a personalized healthy eating plan. The best way to lose weight is to combine healthy eating with exercise.
Learn more about losing weight with regular physical activity and healthy eating.
Everyone is different. Physical activity is important to help you maintain your weight. But the amount of physical activity you need to stay the same weight depends on your specific genes, biology, past, and age.
Some women can maintain their weight by doing five hours or less of moderate-intensity activity a week. Some women may need to do more than five hours of moderate-intensity activity a week to stay at the same weight.
Talk to your doctor or nurse about how much physical activity you need and how to do it safely.
As you age, and especially in the years after menopause, you may find it harder to maintain your weight. You may need to increase the amount of physical activity you get and lower how many calories you eat to stay the same weight. Learn more about avoiding weight gain after menopause.
You should do two types of physical activities on a regular basis: aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities.
Aerobic activities (also called “cardio”) make you breathe harder and your heart beat faster. During aerobic activities, such as running or dancing, you move your whole body, or a combination of arms and legs, over and over again.
Watch this video (link is external) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to learn more about aerobic activities.
Muscle-strengthening activities include working out with weight machines, free weights, or exercise bands. You also can do exercises that use your own body weight to create resistance, such as yoga, sit-ups, or push-ups.
The muscle you build helps you have the strength to do daily activities, such as climbing stairs or carrying groceries.
During strength training, you should do different exercises to work all the major muscle groups of your body (legs, hips, back, chest, abdomen, shoulders, and arms). You should try to do muscle-strengthening activities on two or more days each week. Allow one day in between sessions to avoid too much stress on your muscles and joints.
Watch these videos from the CDC to learn more about muscle-strengthening activities you can do at home or at the gym.
Many women do not do any type of muscle-strengthening exercise because they are afraid of becoming too muscular. But women’s bodies are different from men’s bodies. Women naturally have more body fat and less muscle. Unless you are a professional bodybuilder or athlete, it is very unlikely that you would become more muscular or bulky than you would like from strength training.
Strength training or weightlifting is very healthy for most women.
For more information about how to be active for your health, call the OWH Helpline at 1-800-994-9662 or check out the following resources from other organizations:
Top Questions About Fitness and Women (PDF, 105 KB)
Physical activity during pregnancy is safe for you and your baby. And the more active you are during pregnancy, the easier it will be to start getting active after your baby is born. Learn more about physical activity during pregnancy in our Pregnancy section.
Many women wonder whether it is OK to work out during their period. The answer is easy: Yes! In fact, you may find that you can be more physically active and at a greater intensity at certain times of the month than at other times.
Top Questions About Fitness and Women (PDF, 105 KB)
Maybe. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, exercising may help relieve symptoms of PMS, such as bloating and mood swings. Studies have shown that women who exercise regularly have fewer or less severe PMS symptoms. Learn more about ways to relieve PMS symptoms.
Physical activity is important for all women throughout their lives. Read on for ways you can change your physical activity routine to fit your needs based on your age, stage of life, or physical abilities.
Regular physical activity benefits your health. Any physical activity is better than no physical activity. The Physical Activity Guidelines can help you plan how much physical activity to do each week. Learn ways to get started and talk to your doctor or nurse about how to fit physical activity into your life.
Carrying extra weight can make moving around much more difficult.
If you have overweight or obesity and you want to begin exercising, start slowly by moving more around your home. Try doing stretches or lifting weights while watching TV. You can lift cans of food, jugs of water, or other household items as weights.
Walking in a safe place near where you live is a great way to begin getting more exercise or physical activity for women of any age or shape. You don’t need special clothes or sports equipment, just comfortable walking shoes. Start with 10-minute walks at a comfortable pace (you can still breathe normally and talk while walking) at least three days a week. Add more minutes of walking and increase how fast you walk as your body gets used to the activity.
Here are some tips to get you started:
Find more information about how to be active at any size.
As you get older, it’s important to stay active. Regular physical activity can help keep you healthy and strong. Physical activity offers many benefits for older women:
All women of all ages, shapes, and abilities should get at least 2 hours and 30 minutes each week of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity. You also need muscle-strengthening activities on at least two days each week.
Balance exercises are important for all women, but especially older women who are at a higher risk of falls. This includes women who have had falls in the recent past or have trouble walking. Researchers know that doing balance and muscle-strengthening activities for at least 1 hour and 30 minutes a week helps lower the chance that you will fall down and hurt yourself. Examples of these exercises include tai chi, walking backward, and standing from a sitting position.
Getting active can help you live a longer, healthier life. Learn exercises and stretches you can do at any age to improve your health.
A disability may make it harder to stay active, but there are still many ways to be physically active. There are also many reasons why being physically active is important if you have a disability.
Physical activity helps with flexibility, mobility, and coordination. Getting regular physical activity can also help you stay independent by preventing health problems, such as heart disease, that can make it harder for you to take care of yourself.
Benefits of physical activity for women with disabilities include:
Women with disabilities should try to get the same amount of physical activity as all adults. That means getting at least 2 hours and 30 minutes each week of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity and two or more days each week of muscle-strengthening activities. Get more information and see a list of exercises to try based on your abilities (link is external).
Before you start, talk to your doctor, physical therapist, or exercise specialist about how you can modify physical activity to accommodate your disability.
For more information about physical activity for all women, call the OWH Helpline at 1-800-994-9662 or check out the following resources from other organizations:
Top Questions About Fitness and Women (PDF, 105 KB)
Most women don’t need medical approval to start exercising. Taking a walk is a great first step. But if you have a health problem, such as heart disease or diabetes, you should talk to your doctor or nurse before you start any physical activity routine. Your doctor or nurse can help you find an activity that is right for you based on your abilities and needs.
Physical activity has many benefits for your health. But staying safe during physical activity is just as important for your health. Start slow if you have not been physically active for a while. This will help you stick with it and avoid injury.
Maybe. Most healthy women do not need to talk to their doctor or nurse before becoming active. But if you have health concerns or have not worked out in a while, it is a good idea to talk to a doctor or nurse about the types of physical activity that are right for you.
This is especially important if you:
Yes and no. Both women and men are at risk for injuries during physical activity. The degree of risk depends on the type of activity. For example, contact sports carry more of a risk than activities like walking.
But women are more likely than men to develop “runner’s knee” during physical activity. This condition may happen when the shock-absorbing tissue (called cartilage) in the knee wears down or when there are problems with the alignment of the bones, tendons, and muscles of the knee. It can happen because of many sports or activities, not just running.
Women are three times more likely to have an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear than men are. The ACL holds the knee in place.
Reasons for the difference in injury may include the following:
You may benefit from exercises you can do to strengthen your knee joint and lower the chance for ACL injuries. Talk to your doctor or nurse about your risk and what you can do to prevent injury.
You can take the following steps to help prevent an injury:
You will probably feel some soreness or discomfort when starting any physical activity. But in many ways, being active will probably make you feel better. If you do have pain that continues for days after an activity, talk to your doctor or nurse.
Top Questions About Fitness and Women (PDF, 105 KB)
Physical activity is safe for almost everyone. Get tips from the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans on ways to stay safe.
All material contained on these pages are free of copyright restrictions and may be copied, reproduced, or duplicated without permission of the Office on Women’s Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Citation of the source is appreciated.
Page last updated: May 10, 2018.
Source: OWH, HHS