Exercise Prescription and Guidelines

Most adults should do at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, each week, plus muscle strengthening on at least 2 days.

That is the headline of the UK Chief Medical Officers' (CMO) physical activity guidelines. Physical activity helps prevent and manage over 20 chronic conditions, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, depression and some cancers, so for the sport and exercise medicine (SEM) clinician prescribing it is a core skill, like prescribing a drug.

This page covers what the guidelines say across the life course, how exercise is prescribed and progressed with the FITT principle, and how activity is built into routine care. The message throughout: some activity is better than none, and more is better still.