Why Stay Active?

Why Stay Active?

Many Scientific studies have revealed that a long and healthy
life may be directly related to a person’s level of exercise
activity. A large number of studies have been done, over the
years, where groups of subjects participated in various forms of
exercise methods in an organized fashion. What scientists try to
determine is, if in fact exercise produces any benefits in
humans.

During some of these trials, for example, subjects were exposed
to the same exercise activities, with the same intensity,
frequency, etc. Scientists would then gather and record various
statistical data that they thought may be relevant to the issue
in question. The hope was that this data would help them to draw
some conclusive evidence that suggested exercise participation
was linked to any significant health benefits.

The findings from these studies are sometimes used to form
models which may be representative of a larger group of people
or even an entire population. Many of these outcomes, in fact,
have suggested that exercise really does generate very important
health benefits. Some of these included weight loss, improved
blood cholesterol and blood pressure levels, improved
psychological conditions, lower incidences of heart disease and
cancer, just to name some.

These scientific studies, however, are small in comparison to
the epidemiological studies. A large-scale study, for example,
may cover a big geographic region or an entire country. Although
they are not controlled as the smaller ones they may be used to
determine many important characteristics of a particular large
group of people or a population.

Because there is no way to use controlled environments when
dealing with an entire population, for instance, scientists
sometimes have to work backwards as it were. That is, they get
the facts through the available statistics first, and then they
try to determine what factors may have influenced certain
outcomes.

This research method was used in part on the popular
“Mediterranean diet”, which has been credited with substantial
health benefits to the people of that region. Others have
included the Japanese and African studies.

The former showed that the people of Japan had significantly
lower blood cholesterol levels and lower incidences of heart
disease than Japanese people living in Western countries. This
study was done with 11,900 men of Japanese ancestry.(1) The
latter suggested that certain African tribal people weighed
less, had lower body mass indexes (BMI), and more favorable
blood cholesterol profiles than Americans.(2)

Not surprisingly, one common denominator in all of these
cultures was that their people were physically active. A large
part of their daily routine consisted of walking and or cycling.
On the other hand, in North America the major means of
transportation is the automobile. As a result, North Americans
are subject to less physical activity giving them more time for
leisure, some of which is spent snacking on various foods that
were developed exactly for this type of lifestyle.

This is mostly why obesity is a major epidemic in the US and
Canada today. Alarmingly, the number of child obesity cases has
also been steadily rising over the last several years. Children,
today, are not getting near as much exercise as they did in
generations past.

Since the root of the problem seems to lie in inactivity, the
solution is clear: We need to become more active. How, then, do
we increase exercise participation to adequate levels? What is
an adequate level of physical activity? Well, we could start by
spending part of our leisure time exercising.

Another alternative is to join a health club or gym – take up a
sport such as tennis, golf, basketball, in line skating, or
engage in activities like brisk walking, cycling and jogging.
The activity of choice, of course, would depend on the person’s
level of fitness.

Regardless of the method of exercise, increased physical
activity usually produces almost immediate results. The most
noticeable of these is weight loss.

Another important benefit of increased physical activity, which
often goes unnoticed, is weight loss maintenance. You have
probably realized that most diets don’t tell you how to keep the
weight off once you have lost it.

Relying only on diet, for weight loss maintenance, especially in
affluent Western cultures, is very difficult. The most sensible
solution, therefore, is to increase exercise participation.

Americans today, on average, eat less than they did 20 years
ago, and yet they weigh more. It’s not hard, then, to figure
out: If we’re consuming fewer calories and weigh more, our level
of physical activity must have decreased.

Besides helping to maintain weight loss, exercise has been shown
to improve blood pressure, cholesterol (lipoprotein) and
triglyceride (blood fat) levels, which makes for a healthier
heart.

I am a living example of this. Being a personal trainer, I spend
most of my time training other people. I realized that
throughout the years of instructing others, my participation in
these training sessions had gradually been decreasing. And
because of my very busy schedule my personal workout periods
have been decreasing as well.

When I went to my doctor for my last annual physical, the
results were a little scary. Both my blood cholesterol and blood
pressure had risen to above normal levels. I thought, “How
ironic is this? This can’t be happening to me.” My job is to
help people lose weight, to become fit, and also to improve
their cholesterol and blood pressure levels through exercise and
nutrition.

This time, I was the one who needed help. Yes, I had to admit to
myself that I was human too, and not immune to any of these
conditions, regardless of how much of an authority, in this
field, I thought I was. When I took inventory of the situation,
I noticed that although my eating habits were good, I needed to
exercise more. That was the bottom line.

What I did was simple. Every evening (or at least 5 times per
week), after dinner, I went for a brisk walk that lasted about
half hour. I also made a point of going to the gym 3 times a
week for a one hour session.

I began with a cardiovascular workout that consisted of cycling
or step climbing or a combination of both for 25 minutes. The
level of intensity was fairly vigorous or comfortably vigorous.
In other words, it was effective enough to burn 180-200 calories
– according to the cardiovascular machines.

In case you’re not familiar with these, most gyms have
step-climbing machines, treadmills (for walking or jogging),
rowing and skiing machines, etc. Most of the modern ones keep
track of your heart rate.

This is how it works. The machines have handle bars that are
equipped with sensors which record the pulse from your fingers
and the palms of your hands. This is converted into your heart
rate and is shown on the machine’s display. They also keep track
of the total calories burned, the distance you would have
traveled if you weren’t stationary, etc.

I followed that with a 30 minute strength training session. I
usually concentrated on two body parts with two exercises for
each. Each exercise consisted of 3 sets of 10-12 repetitions for
each set.

For those new to weight training, let me explain something. If
you don’t know how much weight or resistance to use, follow this
method. Choose a weight that will tire your muscle completely by
completing 10 to 12 repetitions. Ideally, you should do 3-4
exercises per body part if you have the time – this would be
more effective.

Weight training, resistance training or strength training (they
are all the same) is a crucial part of a good weight maintenance
program. It’s a known fact that muscle increases the body’s
metabolism. Muscle mass burns calories. In other words, the more
muscle you have, the higher your metabolism would be and the
more calories you would burn. This is why it’s so important to
complement your cardio session with strength training.

The cardiovascular workout helps to burn fat and to keep the
heart, blood vessels, and lungs healthy. Weight training keeps
the musculoskeletal system strong and prepares the body to take
on any unexpected physically stressful situations that may
arise, which may help prevent injury. It also helps to increase
lean body mass, which in turn fuels the body’s metabolism.

After 3 months of following this simple training method, I
returned to the doctor for follow-up blood tests. The results
were very gratifying. Both my cholesterol and blood pressure had
returned to normal levels.

The doctor congratulated me. And I was relieved to find out that
prescribed medication was not necessary. I had gotten caught up
in the typical North American lifestyle – working hard but not
getting enough exercise.

References:

1 Marmot MG, Syme SL, Kagan A, Kato H, Cohen JB, Belsky J.,
“Epidemiologic studies of coronary heart disease and stroke in
Japanese men living in Japan, Hawaii and California: prevalence
of coronary and hypertensive heart disease and associated risk
factors”, retrieved 22 Nov. 2003 from
bMed&list_uids=1202953&dopt=Abstract>

2 hypercholesterolemia-clinical-trials.com, “Dietary Research
and Cholesterol Levels: Fine-Tuning Eating Habits”, retrieved 22
Nov. 2003 from
habits.php3>

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