A whopping 65 to 85 percent of the world’s population fails to exercise enough. And the future remains bleak with two out of three children around the globe exercising too little to improve their health (presumably because they spend more time in front of the computer or television). The higher the standards of living, modern conveniences and the urban environment make exercise less spontaneous and less enjoyable.
The first month of the year is one of the best times to seriously look into the benefits of physical activity and the dangers of its lack. On the subject of exercise, knowledge alone is not empowering. For sure, majority of us know at least two or three benefits of exercise and a couple of the dangers of being sedentary. In this case, knowledge is not enough. To act on it borders on the emotional and psychological.
Just like faith, exercise seems to happen at the right time for each and every one of us. Fortunately, like faith again, there is no such thing as too early or too late. Even an 80-year-old who has not exercised all his life will still benefit from supervised activity.
A combination of aerobic exercise (walking, cycling, jogging, swimming, etc.) and resistance training is ideal. The latter is important because it increases strength, leads to decreased body fat, helps improve blood cholesterol, and reduces the risk of osteoporosis.
A study by the Applied Exercise Science Laboratory at Texas A&M University claims that firemen are more often at risk for heart attacks due to little or no exercise while on duty. Wade Womack studied 74 firefighters over a six-year period. Majority of those in the study were overweight and have less-than-ideal cholesterol levels.
Womack points out that firemen are exposed to work that is physical, strenuous, and stressful, that is why they should exercise and be physically prepared. Interestingly, he may be right since in a study conducted by the National Fire Protection Association, half of the firemen deaths on-duty were not a result of fires but heart attacks.
There were other clear signs of lack of exercise. The body fat percentage (ratio of fat over lean mass) of the fire fighters was above average. Cholesterol readings were elevated and VO2 max (measure of aerobic fitness) was deteriorating.
"People who exercise regularly are less likely to get sick after stressful situations than people who don’t exercise," said Monika Fleshner, assistant professor at the university’s kinesiology department. "We need to keep moderate, regular, and voluntary exercise going. Then when we are hit with our deadlines or stress at work, marital stress or loss of a loved one, we may be able to buffer those negative effects of stress on the immune system. To reap the benefits, exercise should begin before the stressful situation."
Meanwhile, at the University of Missouri, new studies reveal that high-intensity exercise is superior in reducing stress and anxiety that may lead to heart disease. "Conventional wisdom says that exercising for 30 minutes at a moderate exercise intensity is more effective in reducing anxiety than either a low- or high-intensity dose. This conclusion, however, is deceptively simple because reductions in anxiety are not always observed immediately following a high-intensity bout of exercise," explains Richard Cox, professor and leader of the study.
In this study, there’s no marked difference between the benefits of moderate and high-intensity workout at baseline or immediately after exercise, but high intensity exercise yields a marked difference at 30, 60, and 90 minutes after.
Lack of exercise, on the other hand, leads to deterioration of health, as evidenced by a sagging stomach, back pain, sleeplessness, general fatigue, weak heart, lowered resistance to infection, and lack of concentration.
Any activity done even just 10 to 15 minutes a day is better than nothing. Starting slow is the best thing you can do to incorporate exercise permanently into your life. Doing sit-ups in front of the television is better that being a mere couch potato, doing leg lifts in your chair at work, taking a flight of stairs instead of the escalator, and my favorite is to climb up two steps at a time, parking your car at the farthest slot to the mall entrance, walking to the water station every hour, doing household chores, washing your car, playing tag with the kids.
Simple, small activities done regularly count. Even unstructured activities still burn calories anyways. It’s called exercise without exercising!