The number of low active and sedentary youth in the United States has reached epidemic proportions. Thus, to promote exercise, objectives have been established recommending that youth engage in at least 60 minutes of accumulated moderate to vigorous physical activity on most days of the week (IOM, 2002; NASPE, 2003; WHO, 2003). Limited research, however, has examined the determinants of exercise among youth and the extent to which they are meeting these guidelines. Thus, the purpose of this study was to retrospectively examine the psychosocial and cognitive determinants of exercise intention and behavior among youth meeting and not meeting the current exercise guidelines using the framework of the theory of planned behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1991). Participants were 106 9th grade boys and girls (M age = 14.75, SD = 0.47) who completed measures during their physical education classes assessing the TPB constructs (i.e., attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control [PBC], intention, and exercise behavior). Participants were categorized into two groups based on whether they were meeting or not meeting the 60 minute exercise recommendation. One-way ANOVA revealed that the group meeting the recommendations had significantly higher scores for attitude, PBC, intention, and exercise behavior compared to the group not meeting the guidelines (p’s < .001). Hierarchical regression analyses were used to predict exercise intention and behavior and the variables were entered according to the theoretical tenets of the TPB. For the group meeting the exercise guidelines, we found that: (a) intention and PBC explained 30% of the variance in exercise behavior with intention providing unique contribution, and (b) 49% of the variance in intention was explained by attitude, subjective norm, and PBC with PBC providing unique contribution. For the group not meeting the exercise guidelines, we found that: (a) 18% of the variance in exercise behavior was explained by intention and PBC, with neither construct providing unique contribution, and (b) 58% of the variance in intention was explained by attitude, subjective norm, and PBC, with attitude and subjective norm providing unique contributions. These findings suggest that youth meeting and not meeting the current exercise guidelines have different exercise determinants and they illustrate that PBC is a central determinant of exercise intention and behavior for youth meeting the current exercise guidelines. Researchers, healthcare professionals, and physical educators should consider factors that influence children’s perceived control (e.g., exercise competence, experience) in order to increase their exercise intention and behavior during adolescence. Keyword(s): exercise/fitness, youth-at-risk