About one in four American adults meets the federal guidelines for both aerobic exercise and strength training. The CDC’s most recent data puts that number at 22.5% in 2022, meaning roughly three out of four adults fall short of the recommended 150 minutes per week of moderate aerobic activity plus two days of muscle-strengthening exercise. The picture gets more nuanced when you break it down by age, gender, geography, and how the data is actually collected.
What the Guidelines Actually Ask For
The federal physical activity guidelines set two benchmarks for adults: at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity (or 75 minutes of vigorous activity), and muscle-strengthening exercises on two or more days per week. Walking briskly, cycling, swimming, and dancing all count toward the aerobic goal. Lifting weights, resistance bands, and bodyweight exercises like push-ups count toward strength training.
When you look at each benchmark separately, Americans do better on cardio than on strength work. About 47% of adults met the aerobic guideline alone in 2024, according to CDC survey data. But once you add in the strength training requirement, the number drops to that 22.5% figure. Many people get some movement but don’t do the full picture of exercise that health authorities recommend.
How Age and Gender Shape the Numbers
Exercise rates decline steadily with age and differ between men and women at every stage of life. Among men aged 18 to 34, about 41% meet both guidelines. That drops to 29% for men 35 to 49, 22% for those 50 to 64, and just 15% for men 65 and older. Women start lower and follow the same downward curve: 29% of women aged 18 to 34 meet both benchmarks, falling to 23%, then 18%, then 11% for those 65 and older.
The gap between men and women is widest in the youngest age bracket, where men lead by about 13 percentage points. By the 35 to 49 range, the gap narrows to roughly 7 points. This pattern suggests that strength training, where men tend to participate more, is a major driver of the overall gender difference.
Where You Live Matters
Physical activity levels vary dramatically across the country. Colorado has the lowest rate of leisure-time physical inactivity at about 18%, followed closely by Utah, Washington, and Vermont, all under 20%. At the other end, seven states plus Puerto Rico have inactivity rates of 30% or higher: Mississippi, Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and West Virginia. Puerto Rico tops the list at nearly 50% of adults reporting no leisure-time physical activity at all.
These geographic patterns track closely with income levels, access to parks and sidewalks, climate, and the types of jobs available in a region. States with higher rates of outdoor recreation infrastructure and milder or drier climates consistently rank better.
People Overestimate How Much They Move
One important caveat with all these numbers: most of them come from surveys where people report their own activity levels, and people consistently overestimate how much they exercise. A study comparing self-reported exercise to accelerometer measurements (a device worn on the body that objectively tracks movement) found striking differences. Participants reported an average of 774 minutes of weekly physical activity. Accelerometers measured just 292 minutes, less than half the self-reported figure.
Even using median values, which reduce the effect of outliers, the gap persisted: 388 self-reported minutes versus 253 measured minutes. A quarter of participants claimed more than 960 minutes of weekly activity. Fewer than 1% actually reached that level when measured objectively. This means the real percentage of Americans meeting exercise guidelines is likely lower than survey data suggests.
The overestimation pattern also varies by demographics. Women tended to rank their activity higher relative to their measured levels, while men’s objective measurements sometimes exceeded their self-reports. Older adults overestimated more than younger adults, with those 65 and older ranking their self-reported activity about 6 percentage points higher than what accelerometers captured.
Sitting Has Become the Default
Beyond formal exercise, the amount of time Americans spend sitting has become a health concern in its own right. While comprehensive sitting data for the general population is limited, research using national survey data has found that large portions of adults sit for eight or more hours per day. Sedentary behavior includes any waking activity done while sitting, lying down, or reclining that burns very little energy: desk work, driving, watching TV, scrolling a phone.
The shift toward sedentary work has been gradual but significant. Even people who exercise regularly can spend the vast majority of their waking hours sitting, a pattern researchers sometimes call “active couch potato” syndrome. Thirty minutes at the gym doesn’t fully offset 10 hours in a chair, which is why health guidelines increasingly emphasize breaking up long sitting periods throughout the day, not just hitting an exercise target.
Exercise Rates Haven’t Budged Since the Pandemic
If you’re wondering whether the pandemic changed things, the short answer is no, at least not in a lasting way. CDC tracking data shows the percentage of adults meeting aerobic guidelines has barely moved: 47.1% in 2020, 47.3% in 2022, and 47.2% in 2024. The percentage of completely inactive adults also held steady, hovering around 27% before ticking down slightly to 26.2% in 2024. None of these changes are statistically significant.
Youth numbers tell a similar story. The percentage of young people meeting aerobic guidelines went from 23.2% in 2019 to 24.6% in 2023, a small increase that also falls within the range of statistical noise. Despite a surge of interest in home workouts and outdoor activity during lockdowns, population-level exercise habits appear to have returned to their pre-pandemic baseline.
What the Average Actually Looks Like
Putting it all together, the “average” American gets some exercise but not enough. About half the adult population does enough cardio, roughly a quarter does enough cardio and strength training combined, and about a quarter is almost entirely inactive during leisure time. The typical person probably walks somewhat regularly, may do occasional recreational activity, but doesn’t maintain a consistent strength training routine.
If you’re already doing 150 minutes of moderate activity and lifting weights twice a week, you’re outperforming roughly three-quarters of the adult population. If you’re doing any intentional exercise at all, you’re ahead of the roughly one in four Americans who report none. The bar, statistically speaking, is low. And given the self-reporting bias, the real numbers are almost certainly worse than what surveys capture.