Recommendations for exercise: Exercise boosts mood and community spirit
Sport scientists at FAU are revising national guidelines for exercise and the promotion of exercise
What is the best form of exercise and how often should we exercise to stay healthy? How can institutions encourage exercise? These are the key questions behind the national recommendations for exercise which are being revised by experts from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) until 2026. In our interview, Prof. Dr. Klaus Pfeifer, Head of the Department of Sport Science and Sport at FAU, explains the objectives and expected outcome of the project.
Prof. Pfeifer, you were also involved in the government’s recommendations published in 2016. How did that come about?
The project really got off the ground in 2013 already, when the EU asked member states to draft national recommendations for promoting health through exercise. The BMG then approached us and asked us to draft a paper.
What are the recommendations?
The first part of the recommendations for exercise are directed at individuals and aim to explain how exercise keeps you healthy. This part is essentially based on the recommendations of the WHO, for example for 150 minutes of physical activity per week. This doesn’t have to be sport, since hiking, cycling or gardening also count. We break that down for individual groups in society: children and adolescents, adults, elderly people and people with non-contagious diseases.
The second part is focused on promoting exercise in society, in other words what can be done to encourage people to exercise. We investigated which measures are effective for encouraging exercise. To do so, we looked at the various environments where people spend their time: daycare, schools, companies, local authorities, retirement homes, sports clubs. We already involved stakeholders from these areas when drafting our recommendations for promoting exercise in 2016.
Why are the recommendations being revised?
In 2023, the BMG initiated round table discussions involving federal and state ministries, local authorities, social security providers, sports associations and specialist and professional associations. They came to the conclusion that the national recommendations, in particular for encouraging exercise, should be revised by 2026. This result also reflects scientific advances. Based on the latest findings of the past ten years, it is time for a revision. The WHO also amended their recommendations for exercise in 2020, including new target groups such as pregnant women and new mothers, people with disabilities and people with chronic diseases. Germany has taken on a pioneering role in encouraging exercise since 2016, and is now expanding this even further. In particular, the recommendations for promoting exercise should incorporate the requirements and knowledge of various stakeholders involved in promoting exercise.
How are you going about making revisions?
The first step involves an evidence update: We are looking to see what the latest findings are regarding physical activity and health and which methods have proven particularly successful in encouraging exercise, not only in Germany or Europe but across the globe. This extensive work forms the scientific basis for the new paper. At the same time, we are involving other stakeholders from society in the process: scientists from other universities and representatives from the areas of transport, education, health and sport. NGOs and associations are also involved this time, for example ADFC or KLUG. We are creating this alliance in order to be able to derive measures that are more specific than those we have recommended to date.
Can you already tell us more about these new measures?
We will focus more on changes in society: for example, if all-day schooling becomes the norm, we will need to look at how exercise can be integrated there. If the schools lack the resources they need, it may be feasible to look at encouraging collaboration with local sports clubs. The institutions will need to become more flexible. Another good example: it is not enough to just provide a bike stand outside the company. It is crucial that the necessary infrastructure is also in place to allow people to cycle to work safely and conveniently. For that to be the case, we need a network of stakeholders and collaborations between various sectors in order to create safe routes, good connections and suitable cycle parking options.
We aim to focus more on the quality of physical activity over all. We shouldn’t focus on just counting minutes, exercise should be fun and ideally also encourage social contacts, personal skills and individual autonomy. Less pressure, more enjoyment, more community spirit – that is the direction we should be moving in.
Climate change means that hotter and drier summers are to be expected. Will you take that into consideration in the new recommendations?
Absolutely. Heat can be particularly problematic for vulnerable groups such as the elderly or people with non-contagious diseases. At the same time, ideally exercise can also make a contribution to climate action, for example if I leave my car at home and cycle to work instead. We hope to lay particular emphasis on these aspects in our recommendations. In addition, it is also worth considering the consumption of resources for certain physical activities in order to encourage a more sustainable approach – putting it simply, stand up paddle boarding on the local lake instead of surfing in the Azores.
Thank you, Prof. Pfeifer!
The research project “Updating and refining national recommendations for exercise and promoting exercise” was launched in February 2025. The Federal Ministry of Health is providing approximately 500,000 euros in funding for the project. The recommendations are of considerable national importance: they form the scientific basis for political measures and initiatives for promoting exercise in Germany. Recommendations for exercise published in 2016 were drafted by FAU. They led to the establishment of central structures such as “Round table for Exercise and Health” and subsequent scientific projects focusing on the implementation and dissemination of recommendations.
Further information:
Prof. Dr. Klaus Pfeifer
Department of Sport Science and Sport
klaus.pfeifer@fau.de