Why Stay Active?

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

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