Most often the recommended amount of exercise is 150 minutes a week, or 30 minutes 5 times a week. Research published in the September 7, 2012 issue of Preventive Medicine looked at how much exercise is ideal for good mental health. The study included self-reported data on physical activity and mental health symptoms from 7674 adults from the 2007 US Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS). The researchers concluded that the optimal amount of physical activity for improved mental health may be from 2.5 (150 minutes) to 7.5 hours of activity per week. Less than that or more than that did not result in a better mental health profile. The researchers speculated that more exercise than that might be coming at the expense of other activities, such as spending time with family or social activities. I think there is a fair amount of wiggle room here. It surely depends on whether the individual has a time-consuming job or not, is single or not, and a host of other factors. This is a good starting point, however.
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