“If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health.” –Hippocrates –
As we undergo the grand experiment of urbanization, we find ourselves leaving the farms, fields and forests, where walking to get around is the norm, behind. In the urban environment, it can be easy to find ourselves sitting for most of the day including as we transport ourselves in an automobile.
For decades, we’ve recognized that this sedentary lifestyle carries is associated with many health risks, including the“Big Urban 5”lifestyle epidemics: cardiovascular disease, Type II Diabetes, Respiratory problems, Cancers and Mental Depression.
Weight control has also been linked to levels of exercise.
LINK: To Lose Weight, Eating Less Is Far More Important Than Exercising More
Recently, however, some evidence suggests that too much endurance exercise, especially running, maybe unhealthy over the long run.
LINK: When Exercise Does More Harm than Good
LINK: Training very hard ‘as bad as no exercise at all’
LINK: The Right Dose of Exercise for a Longer Life
But how good is the solution that is most commonly prescribed—exercise? And the place it is most commonly expected to get done —at the gym? What kinds of exercise are best? The medical
community has often cited something like at least half an hour,five times a week, of endurance activity that raises heart rate and makes us sweat.
Where does this standard come from? Is endurance the most important part of exercise? What about strength training? Which muscles should we keep strong—legs,arms, trunk? What about face, pelvis, hands?
Looking forward to your thoughts on a complicated Enough question…
FROLICH STUDENTS:
Please respond with a comment essay. Your essay should be a well-thought-out and rational article. Your essay, which should be a few paragraphs long, should address all of the following:
1. A point of view–what is your answer to the question of how much physical activity is enough? This might, probably should, be a detailed answer that gets into the types of activity and how they fit into the rest of our lives.
2. What is the evidence that supports your point of view? Use at least two of the references above, and one additional outside reference. Give your references as URL’s that are embedded in your essay.
3. How do you believe we should promote your point of view, or convince people to do what you recommend?
4. I recommend writing your essay in a Word document, and then copy it into the Comment box below so that you don’t lose your work and you keep a copy for yourself. Be sure to put a title at the top of your response, and your name in the “by” line.
Don’t post anything you wouldn’t want the class, and the whole world, to read.
This is worth 5 points extra credit towards your final lecture grade.
The Department of Health and Human Services suggests that we get at least 150 minutes a week of vigorous exercise. It is my belief that we should exercise depending on how much and what we eat. As modern Americans we have food ready and easily accessible at every corner meaning we eat simply because we are gluttonous and we can. We no longer eat just enough to meet out caloric needs like when we were hunter-gatherers. Many years ago early humans burned hundreds of calories just looking for a meal, we on the other hand can sit in our cars and drive to any fast food establishment and that food gets handed to us directly, the only calories we burn are from moving our arm out of the window and grabbing our greasy processed foods from the cashier.
Maybe back in the day we didn’t need to be conscious of exercise because we were always doing it, but today things are different. I think with the average American diet, 150 minutes per week is measly. We should exercise at least 60 minutes per day everyday even if it is at a brisk pace. The guidelines for “healthy” eating and exercising change all the time and maybe we can’t rely on that information alone. I believe “enough” exercise can be achieved by experimenting with ourselves and seeing what amount is the perfect amount. Did you feel an improvement physically and mentally this week that you exercised 45 minutes or did you feel better the week you exercised 180 minutes? Too much exercise can lead to injuries, exhaustion, depression, and suicide. But too little can lead to a sluggish lifestyle right the grave. There is no exact number to say what is too much or too little but what brings a change in our physical and mental well-being. What might be too much exercise for one person is perhaps the right amount for another.
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/2015/01/20/how-much-exercise-is-too-much
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/expert-answers/exercise/faq-20057916
The Department of Health and Human Services suggests that we get at least 150 minutes a week of vigorous exercise. It is my belief that we should exercise depending on how much and what we eat. As modern Americans we have food ready and easily accessible at every corner meaning we eat simply because we are gluttonous and we can. We no longer eat just enough to meet out caloric needs like when we were hunter-gatherers. Many years ago early humans burned hundreds of calories just looking for a meal, we on the other hand can sit in our cars and drive to any fast food establishment and that food gets handed to us directly, the only calories we burn are from moving our arm out of the window and grabbing our greasy processed foods from the cashier.
Maybe back in the day we didn’t need to be conscious of exercise because we were always doing it, but today things are different. I think with the average American diet, 150 minutes per week is measly. We should exercise at least 60 minutes per day everyday even if it is at a brisk pace. The guidelines for “healthy” eating and exercising change all the time and maybe we can’t rely on that information alone. I believe “enough” exercise can be achieved by experimenting with ourselves and seeing what amount is the perfect amount. Did you feel an improvement physically and mentally this week that you exercised 45 minutes or did you feel better the week you exercised 180 minutes? Too much exercise can lead to injuries, exhaustion, depression, and suicide. But too little can lead to a sluggish lifestyle right the grave. There is no exact number to say what is too much or too little but what brings a change in our physical and mental well-being. What might be too much exercise for one person is perhaps the right amount for another.
It is suggested that the average adult do a total of 30 minutes of aerobic exercise five days a week. In addition to aerobic activity, it is also suggested that adults incorporate strength training that works all muscle groups into their exercise routines twice a week. Furthermore, adults are encouraged to allocate 75 of the total 120 minute to vigorous aerobic activity and the remaining 45 minutes to moderate aerobic activity. Moderate aerobic activity is defined as one that raises the heart rate and breathing. The perfect example to determine if one is undergoing moderate aerobic activity is the “talk test-”exercising to break a sweat and yet it is still comfortable to carry on a conversation. Some examples of moderate aerobic activity are: walking fast, riding a bike, pushing a lawn mower or water aerobics. Vigorous aerobic activity is characterized as that which increases the heartrate even more, a conversation can be carried on with short sentences. Some examples of vigorous activity are: running, swimming, playing basketball or doing burpees.
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/2013/11/20/physical-activity-guidelines-how-much-exercise-do-you-need/
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/expert-answers/exercise/faq-20057916
http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/adults/
Personally, I agree that working out for a minimum of 30 minutes for five days a week is a good way to begin to lead a healthy lifestyle. When I stay on a routine schedule for working out and eating just a bit better, I always start to feel better as a whole. When your body feels right you are less tired and more motivated. I was once told, “Almost everything, is good in moderation,” I truly believe and live by this. While exercising is good for you, too much of it would not be! If I have not worked out in a while then jump right into a vigorous workout, my body will not be thanking me the next day- it just leads to soreness and pain. Staying healthy is a steady and consistent goal that has to be worked at daily.
Appropriate Exercise to Healthier Lifestyle by Janelle Pascual
Enough physical activity should not be dictated by how much time you dedicated weight lifting or doing cardio in the gym. Enough exercise should be measured by how much you know and perform about the proper activities you can do in corresponds with that health issue you are working on with. In nutrition class, we came across the fundamentals of cholesterol diet/intake as well as the production and digestion of it. It was well expressed that the body, or liver in particular, is already making enough cholesterol for the body, thus intake would not be necessary. However, if not taken precautionary, it would increase levels of LDL (low density lipoprotein) which would cause cardiovascular problems. Consequently, we have HDL or the “good cholesterol,” that should prevent these risks, which could be propagate through diet and exercise. Research suggests, that 20 minutes of continues walking and some other, “moderate exercises would enable the increase of the good cholesterol which helps lower the risk of cardiac problems” (Moll). Some exercise, like running or cycling would burn some calories, which is helpful if you are trying to lose weight or for the sake of being “active” enough. Thus suggests that too much exercise is not necessary, but proper or appropriate exercise should be enough.
It is widely known that our physical activity has been greatly decreased over time. This has been associated with poor eating habits that predominantly contribute to the increasing weight gain of the population. This proportional relationship has emphasized the need for engaging in more physical activity and eating less. This is misleading, if I have to argue. There are misconceptions leading to this which I believe includes the amount of exercise and the food we eat. According to research, “people who push their bodies too hard may essentially undo the benefit of exercise, (Park)”. Nonetheless, it still emphasize that “some exercise is better than no exercise, (Park)”. Although exercise promotes healthier lifestyle, there are some negative effects that attributed from extensive and rigorous activities such as running marathons. Some of which are, “[developing] higher risks of having abnormal heart rhythms, enlargement of the heart, and less efficient in pumping blood though the system, (Park).” As mentioned, this suggests that too much exercise may not very necessary, yet some wouldn’t hurt. Too much of something is harmful to most living organisms, if you think about it. A plant does not need too much of sun or water for rehydration. It needs some to prevent desiccation, but definitely not too much.
(http://time.com/3692668/when-exercise-does-more-harm-than-good/)
Another misleading factor would be the food intake or what a person consumes everyday. What I learned over the years is that, it doesn’t matter what food you eat, but the content or nutrients of the food are what’s important. For instance, if a person wants to lose some pounds, I believe that as long as he would consume a low-calorie diet, it’s possible for some weight lost. Also, according to some research, “total energy expenditure and physical activity levels in developing and industrialized countries are similar, making activity and exercise unlikely to be the cause of differing obesity rates, (Carroll).” Then, what would it be? Another indication of this would be our food intake, or specifically the imbalanced of nutrients we consume everyday. This research also suggests that exercising more would increase a person’s appetite. In general, eating well balanced diet may suffice the need for more physical activity. I mean, we burn calorie as we go, when we walk to class from the parking lot, climbing stairs, and among others. It may not be enough to lose some pounds but when you have the proper nutrients, I do not think too much of gym class would be necessary.
(http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/16/upshot/to-lose-weight-eating-less-is-far-more-important-than-exercising-more.html?_r=2)
Keep in mind that exercising or doing physical activities has one general aim. That is to be healthier. If you know, how to keep your cholesterol level low, that is one step ahead of achieving that healthier lifestyle. When you know how to regulate your carbohydrate intake, then you should know how to balance it with physical activities. I mean, if you know what high cholesterol or high carbohydrate intakes may do to you in the long run, I’m sure you will start doing something about it. In conclusion, a well balanced diet and moderate exercise should be enough. You do not have to take an extra hour in the gym. Try to cut sugar from you diet, or start walking, and eat more fruits and vegetables.
Works Cited
Carroll, Aaron. To Lose Weight, Eating Less Is Far More Important Than Exercising More. 15 June 2015. 11 February 2016 .
Moll, Jennifer. Ways You Can Increase Your HDL Levels. 27 October 2013. 11 February 2016 .
Park, Alice. When Exercise Does More Harm Than Good. 2 February 2015. TIME INC. 11 February 2016 .
Killer Habits…..
Too much of anything may be dangerous. However when it comes to exercise, I believe that a person can never get too much. With the rise of obesity, diabetes and other chronic diseases, everyone should be running for cover (literally). Not only is exercise good for your heart and to maintain a good physique but it also helps in relaxation.
“Taken together, conclusive evidence exists that physical inactivity is one important cause of most chronic diseases. In addition, physical activity primarily prevents, or delays, chronic diseases, implying that chronic disease need not be an inevitable outcome during life” (Booth, Roberts & Laye 2012). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23798298
A brisk walk in the park or jogging on the treadmill is ways to increase activity levels. Simple things can help bring down the epidemic in chronic diseases such as taking the stairs instead of elevator, parking further from entrance of stores and playing outside. Theses activities will allow for killer habits to slowly diminish.
As the world advances into a more technological system, it may be difficult for people to get away from the twitter and Facebook world. However research indicates that “as a general goal, aim for at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day” (Laskowski 2014). http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/expert-answers/exercise/faq-20057916
This should allow for minimizing killer habits, such as surfing the Internet and maximize healthier life style. I believe that slow steps will allow for fewer incidences of chronic diseases. The more exercise a person does the better off they are from experiencing those chronic conditions. Research indicates “ jogging at a steady pace for less than two and a half hours a week was best for health”. http://www.bbc.com/news/health-31095384
As a society if we can motivate each other in healthier habits, such as walking to the store, we can wipe out chronic conditions due to obesity. “Regular exercise (and proper nutrition) can help reduce body fat as well as protect against chronic diseases associated with obesity”. “Regular exercise is a proven way to decrease risk for these and other chronic diseases. It will help to prevent or manage high blood pressure. It also raises high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, known as the “good” cholesterol, and lowers low density lipoprotein (LDL) or “bad” cholesterol” (Schmidt 2012). https://www.acsm.org/public-information/articles/2012/01/19/obesity-and-exercise
Decreasing killer habits are the only way to increase our health and slow down chronic conditions. We can accomplish this by soliciting entertainers, media moguls, musicians and people who impact our social culture. Theses important people can encourage us to exercise by donating to programs that push this agenda. Daily news can show case local companies that offer free ways to loss weight and exercise programs. Technology can be used to combat this issue and allow for society to put away their killer habits and get to running.
Work It Out!!!
Too much physical activity is never enough I mean as far as staying healthy and maintain your calories and heart rate is amazing. Everyone know that the more you exercise the better it will lead to a long healthy life, who wouldn’t want that. For example, a mother of two young kids can’t really play around with them if she’s overweight well at least the playtime amongst them will probably last only ten minutes. “Don’t quote me on that statement”. Think about it she’ll probably immediately lose her breath. For instance “Then, as with the other study, they checked death statistics. And as in the other study, they found that meeting the exercise guidelines substantially reduced the risk of early death, even if someone’s exercise was moderate, such as walking” http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/the-right-dose-of-exercise-for-a-longer-life/?_r=0
In addition, I feel like the more your physical active the better. Although there are people that feel like less is more for them due to the fact not all of us have the same body type just as it stated on the resource I labeled above just a walk a day will have you living a longer and healthy life. Honestly we all don’t have the same body type. For some of us we are a lot bigger and need the extra exercise. For instance “As a general goal, aim for at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day. If you want to lose weight or meet specific fitness goals, you may need to exercise more. Want to aim even higher? You can achieve more health benefits, including increased weight loss, if you ramp up your exercise to 300 minutes a week. Short on long chunks of time? Even brief bouts of activity offer benefits. For instance, if you can’t fit in one 30-minute walk, try three 10-minute walks instead. What’s most important is making regular physical activity part of your lifestyle”
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/expert-answers/exercise/faq-20057916
In this society we now have social media as our outlet to everything. We should rally’s discussing the importance of being healthy and exercising. We should continue to have little mile runs with our community. Trainers should have workout activities for the children in their community at least once a week or twice a month. Look at the comedian Kevin Hart he is now on a tour around the world and to every country, he participate in a 5K run with the locals. Here is what he said at The Daily Show “My body looks amazing…it looks amazing,” Hart said. Not only does he flex on his Instagram account, but Hart has organized various 5K runs around the country that coincide with his comedy show location that night.
“When asked why running and working out was so important to him, Hart not only remarked on his desire for his own health, but also that of his fans.”
“Here’s what I’ve learned,” Hart said. “I’ve learned that I have a platform where I can motivate and inspire. And what better way to do that than running? Running is something that everybody can do all over the world. Regardless of race, shape and size, you can all do it together. It brings people closer together.”
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/entertainment/television/Kevin-Hart-talks-sold-out-Linc-career-and-fitness-on-Daily-Show.html#K9Fxh5p4kSAfY7GO.99
I spent most of my early life dancing, doing theater or just simply playing outside, in other words I’ve lived a relatively active life as a child. As an adult in my early twenties is become more difficult to keep active and exercise daily or even just a couple of times a week, I had to find something that I loved just as much as dancing and that it would be beneficial to my body, soul and mind. That is when I decided to practice Ashtanga yoga and meditation, this specific type of yoga is challenging, it teaches you dedication, strength (of body and mind) and flexibility, everything a dancer needs to be.
In the yogi world the ideal amount of time a person should do its practice is minimum of three times a week, or no more than five, leaving two days to rest. Each practice takes a specific amount of time to complete which never exceeds an hour. The long lives of master yogis can serve as prove that these practices and amount of exercise prolong your lifespan, Pattabhi Jois taught Ashtanga yoga until the age of 90, and there are many more masters like him who lived long over 100 years. As mentioned in the “Effects of yoga practice on metabolic factors associated with aging” by Ruth Howard
As its said in “Lack of exercise is a major cause of chronic diseases” physical activity prevents, or delays chronic diseases, but these diseases are inevitable and will still appear in life.
In the article “The right dose of exercise for a long life” data shows that people who didn’t exercise at all were at the highest risk of early death as opposed to those who do, the people who did 450 minutes per week were 39% less likely to die prematurely than people who never exercised. The master yogis are a great example for this since they have proven to live longer and healthier life than usual. As said in ‘How much should the average adult exercise every day” Dr.Laskowiski says that his personal aim is for 30 minutes of exercise daily and depending on what your fitness goals are you would have to increase the intensity of your physical activity.
In conclusion I think the perfect amount of exercise a person should do a day is about an hour, this way maintaining a happy medium, without having to do too, just enough to live a long healthy life.
How much physical activity is enough? Well we know that with lack of physical activity it can cause major chronic diseases. Now with that being said, do we have to kill ourselves and go over the top with how much we per say, “have to” exercise? No, of course not, with just a few minutes of stretching each day can help you stay limber for a lifetime. And that’s not all, Improving flexibility means better balance, a straight back, less pain and fatigue, improved athletic performance, and even a clearer mind. Even with just a tranquil walk for 30 minutes a day that you can use up by walking the dog or running some errands to the store, it could really make a difference.
Regular exercise helps you burn calories, lower your blood pressure, reduce LDL “bad” cholesterol, and boost your HDL “good” cholesterol. Now what is regular exercise? Well the Department of Health and Human Services recommends that we accomplish 150 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity, or 75 minutes a week of vigorous aerobic activity, and they also recommend to do strength training about 2-3 times a week. It all depends on what you want the outcome to be, of course everyone is different, some want to exercise to look fit, some want to loose weight, and some might not even exercise at all.
For those who want to look fit and get there muscles bigger yeah go to the gym or for out for a run I would say 4-5 times out of the week, giving yourself and the muscles a day of rest between routines.
As a personal trainer I believe the best way we can get more people to take a stand and actually exercise is by MDC hosting small events like they do for the book fair, or when they have stages and shows here on campus, but instead of being about school, it would be lets say at Bayfront park. Just like the gym has zumba and cross fit classes, well we can have those classes out doors, at the park, with a few of your fellow schoolmates. Its like a “monkey see, monkey do” type of thing. For example when you walk into a gym the first thing you see is everyone all flexed up, sweating, watching their muscles grow as they do every rep, it just gives you the automatic thought of wanting to either have the muscles as “big” as them, or the thought of you being in their position going at it with the weights or the treadmill, the expression on their face, the look of determination, of pushing yourself and wanting to better yourself and be healthier. I recommend to start working out or exercising even if its one time a week, as long as you get you’re heart beat going and your muscles worked up for about 30-45 minutes a day, just that can make a real big difference.
If you need a helping step into the healthy life take at look at this guideline
http://jamesclear.com/best-exercises-basics
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/expert-answers/exercise/faq-20057916
http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/guide/exercise-healthy-heart?page=1
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/16/upshot/to-lose-weight-eating-less-is-far-more-important-than-exercising-more.html?_r=2
Run for your life
There is a lot of emphasis put on the word exercise. Exercise shouldn’t be as stressful as it sounds. Being emotionally fit is a good start to exercising. Having
the right attitude towards exercising is equally as important.
Implanting the “yes I can attitude” into the prefrontal cortex can stimulate
the brain to having positive thoughts. Being positive opens up channels in the
brain that releases chemicals, which allows it to carry out its daily
functions. Neuroscientists have discovered that people who have a more cheerful
disposition and are more prone to optimism generally have higher activity
occurring in their left PFC.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/prime-your-
gray-cells/201108/happy-brain-happy-life.
Consuming fewer calories is far more productive than any weight loss program
or exercise regimen. Jogging for 30 minute will probably burn off 350 calories,
but let’s be realistic, longevity of jogging can be very detrimental to your knees and
joints. How many of us will stick to the routine? Nevertheless, you could achieve
the same calorie reduction by eliminating two 16-ounces sodas each day.
Research, however, shows that the resting metabolic rate in all dieters slows
significantly, regardless of whether they exercise. This is why weight loss,
which might seem easy when you start, becomes harder over time.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/06/16/upshot/to-lose-weight-eating-less-is-far-
more-important-than-exercising-more.html?
The million dollar question, “how long should the average adult exercise
every day?” Funny to mention, this staggering phrase had me in question.
I personally feel that you should exercise at your own pace. Rather it’s aerobic
activity or strength training, everybody should start with intervals. Starting
off with intervals will sure keep you in the game. Building up endurance will
give you the confidence of prolonging your regimen. Where to exercise shouldn’t
be as stressful as how to exercise? I would say going to the Gym is overrated.
You don’t need a treadmill to do vigorous amounts of cardio, you can improvise
by running up and down a flight of stairs at least 10 times a day. Also, if
you’re into moderate aerobic, you can go to your neighborhood park and do a 30
minute brisk walk for 3 days. In addition, have fun doing so.
The Department of Health and Human Services has suggestions of doing strength training exercises at least twice a week. No specific amount of time for each strength training
session are included in the guidelines.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/expert-answers/exercise/faq-20057916
Strength training not only improves your power but also your balance. My ideal of
strength training is rearranging your furniture around at least once a week.
Truth to the matter, just get out there and give it your all.
To sum it up in a nutshell, staying healthy and happy is the key to vitality.
Adding fruits, vegetables, water and a breath of fresh air surpasses any ailment
life throws at you. I will leave you with a quote.
“Eats plants and you will look good in your pants.”
Dr. Neal Barnard
How to Reduce Obesity and Exercise While Doing Daily Activities
For people who want to lose weight, the first imperative change they have to make is to start eating less. I totally agree with the article “To Lose Weight, Eating Less Is Far More Important Than Exercising More.” Obese individuals can start exercising and burn some calories, but if they don’t reduce their calorie intake and don’t change what they eat, then losing weight will be very difficult. Changing habits is hard, but if we do the changes gradually, then it will be more possible to get closer to the goal. Exercise is excellent to increase muscle endurance and muscle strength, help to maintain a good cardiovascular system and help with depression, but when it comes to weight loss, 80% of the changes should be focused on dietary adjustments and 20% on activities to help increase body activity (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/16/upshot/to-lose-weight-eating-less-is-far-more-important-than-exercising-more.html?_r=2).
Once we change what and how much we eat and we start increasing the level of body activity, the next question will be what is “The Right Dose of Exercise for a Longer Life.” Reynolds, in this article, mentions that 30 minutes of moderate exercise per day will be acceptable for everyone (http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/the-right-dose-of-exercise-for-a-longer-life/).
However, the reality is that some people don’t have time to do exercise or they don’t do it because they don’t enjoy exercising at the gym or using exercise machines. One solution to this problem is ask to the person, “What would you love to do?” or “What do you like?” or even “What is your daily life like?” For people who love dancing, for example, they can plan to join a dance group doing the salsa, Zumba, etc. For people who love outside activities, they can make or join a group for walking, riding a bicycle or running once a week. For moms who stay at home, cleaning the house is a good activity. Doing grocery shopping, walking fast in the store or mall for 20 min. is also great. For people who don’t find any activities they like, just using the stairs all the time instead of the elevator or escalator, or walking instead of driving to a close place can be an easy option. Cleaning the back yard is another excellent way to exercise as well. Visiting neighbors is a good way to interact with people and walk, parking far away from the store and walking farther to the door also helps. There is a long list of simple daily life activities and people don’t have to stop doing the things they used to do. These are things that just change the way we do every day activities. Any increase in activity helps the heart rate. Additionally, drinking more water is a key in this change as well.
In Men’s Journal, the article “The No-Workout Workout” talks about this idea, specifically doing workouts while you do your daily activities. In this article, they mention NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis), which means that every movement we make, like going to get the mail, moving a chair, using stairs, playing with the kids, cleaning the house, etc. throughout the day can burn up to 2,000 more calories a day (http://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/exercise/the-no-workout-workout-20130319).
Staying healthy should be our top priority because a healthy life improves not just our body and body systems, but also our mental health. We can start this change of “moving more to be healthy” in our house, at work, at college, at school, anywhere! How can we promote this change of “Moving more to be healthy”? I think it is very simple. We can start by placing ads on the door of the stairs. For example, “Exercise by walking up the stairs” and place an ad on the elevator saying “This is only for people who cannot do any kind of activity.” That way, people will feel that they have to use the stairs more.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this paper, what we eat contributes up to 80% of weight loss success. Based on that, we need to promote healthy meals or food options as much as possible. How can we motivate people to be more active if we sell them “fat food”? If we want to make a change in people’s lives, we need to start by changing what they eat in our institution. Besides that, every campus should have an exercise classroom or space for free or low cost for activities all day long, or at least three times per week, where students can sign up for dance classes, aerobics classes, yoga, Pilates, etc. and to motivate students to sign up and stay the whole semester in that activity. This “extra class” could count for five extra points at the end of one class. Rewards are a good way to really change habits. In addition, in MDC webpage could add a wellness tab where students can sign in and synchronize the calories they are burning off, for example with their cellphones or Fitbits, and see daily how many calories we all burn together or how many steps we all take. This program could be a campus-wide or class competition to see who burns more calories or takes more steps. I think a competition would be a good way to motivate students to participate in this change. MDC could be an excellent example of change, fighting obesity, prevention of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, depression and other conditions related to weight gain. I’m pretty sure that schools and other institutions will imitate our initiative and I will be more than happy to help to promote this idea and be part of the change. after six months or a year of tracking results, we can statically show how many students have lost weight or who are healthier than before. Once people realize that students are committing to this change of “Moving more to be healthy,” even more people will sign up and we can continue our outreach to other groups and motivate them to start the change as well.
There is no correct answer for this question as everyone’s body is different. However, living in an urban environment, the physical activity that we do is going to the gym. While at the gym there really isn’t an end to the physical activity. We can keep on lifting weights or running on the tread mill until our body is tells us that we are done and can’t continue, which in the long term is putting excessive stress on the body. Time is another factor as to why we leave the gym, we stay at the gym until our next item on the agenda comes up. Whereas, if we were still dependent on hunting to gather food and other necessary life materials, we would push through and adapt to the environment. Doing all of the necessary life functions we would incorporate a steady consistent active lifestyle. Another issue is society has become to accept that sitting down for hours is normal and our bodies were not designed for sitting for prolong periods of time.
As the saying goes too much of something is bad for you. Too much exercise is bad for you and having a very sedentary life is also just as bad according to the Study done by the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. (http://time.com/3692668/when-exercise-does-more-harm-than-good/) Going back to the times where we had to run around and gather the food, water, etc. we wouldn’t hunt all day long, nor was it a 5 minute ordeal. It took some time to find the animal and hunt it down. I can see where they are recommending that you have more physical activity than a sedentary life and less that a person that spends 7 days a week at the gym. Less sedentary and less extreme physical activity is more. Researcher Jacob Marott, states that running strenuously is just as bad as not doing any physical activity. We could run all day if we had too but we can also walk and get there with putting less stress on the body. Our bodies like anything else, are not made to run at 100% for long periods of times. Something will give and the results can be catastrophic. (http://www.bbc.com/news/health-31095384)
I would say that your body will let you know when you have had enough. When you go exercise and your body is sore for the next 5 days, it means you pushed your body to hard. Especially if you start going after a healthier lifestyle, you will need to take it slow for a bit then increase the activity until you reach the point where your body tells you this is enough. Prime example is in this article which states that, “half of these marathon-lifers showed some heart muscle scarring, especially the men who had trained the longest and hardest.” (http://breakingmuscle.com/endurance-sports/endurance-training-is-bad-for-your-heart) This shows that your body will stress its self out to keep up with the demand that we tell it to do.
Mardocha Ladouceur
Exercising for a Healthier Life
People always mention exercising and taking care of their health but many people do not know when to get started or how often you should workout. Do not have in mind that you should be built like Rocky Balboa or have endurance like him because we are all made differently. And what works for me probably will not work for you. Exercising is not about the time length it is about what you do choose to do while you are working out. For most healthy adults, the Department of Health and Human Services recommends these exercise guidelines. Get at least 150 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes a week of vigorous aerobic activity. Moderate-intensity aerobic activity means you’re working hard enough to raise your heart rate and break a sweat. Moderate aerobic activity can include walking, jogging, or general home exercises. http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/aerobic-exercise/art-20045541 Vigorous intensity aerobic exercise is where you’re breathing hard and fast and your heart rate has increased significantly. If you’re working at this level, you won’t be able to say more than a few words without pausing for a breath,
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/expert-answers/exercise/faq-20057916
Once you have an understanding of how to workout you will thank yourself. Daily exercise can prevent chronic disease such as heart disease, asthma, diabetes, and arthritis. Regular exercise can help insulin more effectively lower your blood sugar level. Physical activity also can help you control your weight and boost your energy.
Exercise can also increase strength and endurance in your back and improve muscle function. Abdominal and back muscle exercises will strengthen the muscles around your spine. Exercising can help you look better. People who exercise burn more calories and look more toned than those who don’t. In fact, exercise is one of the most important parts of keeping your body at a healthy weight. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23798298
The right amount of exercise is important for weight control, strengthening bones and muscles and increased stamina. The benefits of exercise limits these common facts to many other aspects of health and wellness. Other reasons why you should exercise include a reduced the risk of disease, increased brain health, improved energy, and sleep in the end, a longer life as well.
The blog addresses a very important subject, how much physical activity is enough as opposed to how much exercise is enough. The word “exercise” divides us into two groups, those who, the smaller group, and those who don’t. Those who are proponents, like to “proof” their point, with celebrities like Jane Fonda, the mother of aerobic training in the US. She is now approaching 80 and looking healthy. Joe Weider, the US father of body building, who died at age 97. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Weider Ignoring the fact, that the original father of body building died at age, Eugen Sandow, died at the early age of 58. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugen_Sandow .
I work in the geriatric field and see the difference in the quality of life of people who have always stayed active versus inactive people, who are inactive either by choice or by physical handicap. I also see the becoming bedridden due to a sudden medical condition, changes almost immediately elimination patterns, blood pressure, which then in turn have to be addressed with medication, which in turn have negative side effects.
So what is the right amount of activity? Rather than looking at extreme sports, we should look at history. We humans were hunter and predators over 2,000 years ago. In 2004, the journal Nature published an article by evolutionary biologists Daniel E Lieberman of Harvard and Dennis M Bramble of the University of Utah, who argued that we survived this long history by virtue of our athletic prowess. Our caveman ancestors were able to outpace predators and hunt down valuable prey for food that allowed for survival. According to latest research, we owe our tremendous brains to the need to think and the need to run. D.A Raichlen and A. D. Gordon, “Relationship between exercise capacity and Brain size in Mammals”, PLS one # 6, (2011).
Today a study finds that running for 2.5 hours a week is more beneficial than endurance training for marathons. http://www.bbc.com/news/health-31095384 One possible explanation can be that our ancestors hunted for big prey not on every given day, but rather a weekly basis. Also they probably wore down the prey with short sprints in between by endurance rather than chasing down a paved road for 26.2 miles trying to beat the 2 hour and 3 minute mark.
So should we all just work physically then for longevity? I personally worked often in physical demanding jobs like commercial kitchens, but only for years at a time. I exhausted my body at times. But as a woman, I always could rely on asking for male assistance if the physical part became too much. Many people that I know, that work in physical jobs such as kitchens or worse construction workers exhaust their bodies almost daily. That is detrimental to health.
The answer seems to lie in a constant movement. Walk as often as you can, not on the street, but rather on an unpaved surface, combine this with riding a bike maybe, swimming. Use your other muscles, try a push mover rather than electric. If you are falling short on moving and carrying “stuff” to strengthen your upper body, than luckily there are gyms in these days. Exhaust your body sporadic. This is in conformity with the study by Gretchen Reynolds. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/the-right-dose-of-exercise-for-a-longer-life/?_r=0
I believe your body will tell you how much is enough, if it takes you days to recover, chances are you exhausted your body and you should scale it down.
Stretching Your Way to a Healthier Life
It is in my personal and professional opinion that range of motion and overall flexibility has more to do with a person’s overall well-being than physical exercise. As a therapist in a rehab clinic for many years I have treated thousands of patients and have come to notice a recurring theme. People, in general, do not change. It doesn’t matter if they are fifteen years old or fifty, they are who they are. You can tell them how exercising will improve their life and increase their lifespan, (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4241367/) but for the vast majority, they will continue living the same routine with little to no hesitation. Even severe life altering events such as strokes and heart attacks only seem to bring about temporary changes that will sooner, rather than later, give way to old habits. In most cases, trying to convince a person to radically change their lifestyle is at best, a waste of time. There is a way to increase the chances for success and improve a person’s overall well-being at the same time. The key is not a radical lifestyle change, but a slight shift in their normal ADL’s.
The vast majority of Americans, around 80%, do not get the amount of suggested exercise per week. http://time.com/3672428/exercise-sitting/ As of 2015, there were about 250 million adults living in the United States. http://www.census.gov/popest/data/national/totals/2015/index.html If only 20% are getting enough exercise, that leaves 200 million people that need to undergo a massive change in their lifestyle. All I can say is good luck with that!
A much more realistic goal is to nudge these people in the direction of doing 10-15 minutes of light stretching each day. There are many benefits to stretching such as pain relief, increased blood circulation, increased oxygen levels in the blood and decreased stress levels. http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/stretching/the-benefits-of-stretching-for-pain-relief.html All of these side effects are can also be achieved by exercising… So my question is; if you are trying to accomplish the same goals, why not choose the path of least resistance and achieves an exponential success rate.
In my opinion, any workout that exceeds over an hour and a half of physical activity a day is too much. To properly train a group of muscles in the body, it should roughly take up about an hour everyday. Exercise is good for our health because it decreases chances of disease and lengthens our life. Endurance and cardio training is important for our lungs and it also keeps our hearts healthy. Muscle training is also important because it burns calories and keeps fat at a minimum. Muscle training can be very beneficial for our ability to do things in the long run. Another activity that is very good for he body is stretching. In a day, a workout should include 10 minutes of stretching, 20 minutes of cardio, and 30 minutes of muscle training.
Exercise is crucial to good health. This is evident in everyday life. Individuals who workout regularly don’t have as many health complications compared to those who never do. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23798298. Working out for at least an hour a day may increase your lifespan and is the best to maintain a healthy life. Individuals who increased their workout three times past the recommended levels received the most benefits. According to the NYtimes, “Those people were 39 percent less likely to die prematurely than people who never exercised.” http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/the-right-dose-of-exercise-for-a-longer-life/?_r=0. Muscle training is very important because it will make dealing with age easier. Muscle training improves balance and stability, maintains blood pressure, and reduces risk of osteoporosis. http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness_articles.asp?id=364
To get others to follow some workout advice, the government should be more involved in fitness for America. There should be free workout channels and exercise should be promoted more through billboards and pamphlets. Restaurants also shouldn’t overprice healthy options for meals. This would encourage America to choose a healthy option instead of a cheap and fatty one. Lastly, there should be commercials similar to the tobacco free commercials that highlight death caused by lack of exercise and eating unhealthily.
Working toward lifestyle changes…
As a registered dietitian, I meet people every day who are trying to improve their health and make lifestyle changes. One of the main challenges they face is not being able to lose weight despite eating relatively healthy. The first question I asked these people is, are you exercising? And many times they answer no. Exercise is not only essential for weight control, but also to reduce the risk for many chronic conditions, improve physically and emotionally, increase the chances of living longer and healthier, and rehabilitate after orthopedic procedures and injuries.
One of the biggest challenges to exercising is the fact that people do not know how much is enough, or what type of exercise is the most beneficial. In my opinion, and despite the general recommendations of 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity weekly, recommendations should individualized, target to each individual condition, and progressively increased to prevent injuries and lack of continuity due to frustration of not being able to accomplish what is recommended.
Link: http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/pa-health/index.htm
As previously mentioned, the term physical activities accounts for a broad range of activities not only limited to aerobic activity. Aerobic exercise accounts includes both cardiac and respiratory training; strength exercise refers to the training of skeletal muscle to move external load, it involves not only muscle training but also rehabilitation and improvement of posture and bone health. Balance and flexibility are often the forgotten type of exercise despite being essential in injury prevention and the base for all other type of exercises. A combination of all the different types of exercises and variation in the type of exercise is key to improving exercise capacity, reducing the risk of chronic conditions, and maintain or lose weight based on individual conditions.
Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4241367/
Finally, when it comes to weight control, I have found that there are people who think that by exercising they can eat whatever they want because of the calories being burnt, and other people who believe that dieting without exercising is enough to lose weight. The reality is that both exercise and healthy eating, not “dieting” is essential for weight control. People should focus on making lifestyle rather than temporary changes and avoid trying to take shortcuts, as there are no shortcuts to health. Exercise alone cannot induce weight loss as people tend to overestimate the amount of calories burnt during physical activity and portion sizes in this country are overestimated. On the other hand, dieting alone cannot induce weight loss either, and extremely restricted diets are not sustainable over time.
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/16/upshot/to-lose-weight-eating-less-is-far-more-important-than-exercising-more.html?_r=1
As a healthcare professional, my recommendation is to focus on making lifestyle changes. Eating more fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats and drinking plenty of water; combining both aerobic, strength and flexibility exercise, starting slowly and working toward personal goals; getting enough sleep as recovery is as important as doing the work; and having leisure time to relax. In terms of how much physical activity is enough, I agree with the guidelines recommending at least 30’ of moderate physical activity most days of the week, I think 2-3 times a week of strength exercise is beneficial, and flexibility exercises on a daily basis are essential. I recommend making exercise part of your daily routine, even small changes such as taking the stairs vs the elevator are beneficial; small steps toward making lifestyle changes are better than no step at all.