Don’t Deprive Yourself of the Rewards of Exercise

Talking to committed exercisers about the benefits of physical activity is like introducing a dedicated shopper to the joys of an anniversary sale at Nordstrom™. After all, those who exercise are no strangers to the freedom elicited by movement or to the sense of accomplishment felt at the end of a long walk or strength workout.


Those uninitiated in the pleasurable rewards of regular physical activity, however, remain skeptical. After all, how can something as basic as exercise not only improve one’s life today, but perhaps even also save one’s life tomorrow?


Why should you exercise?
Researchers have sought to answer this question for years. In 1996, the Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity was released, detailing the research behind the benefits associated with exercise. This report goes beyond the anecdotal “it-just-feels-good” reason for exercising.
What follows are the conclusions of years of research on the health benefits of physical activity.


Who is exercise good for?
While not all types of exercise are appropriate for everyone, everyone can benefit from some type of exercise. After all, exercise is not limited to running or aerobics.

You can try water workouts or seated-chair classes. You can play softball or squash, go in-line skating or even take a turn or two around the mall, provided you don’t spend all your time lingering in front of shop windows. And if you think activities such as ballroom dancing or tending the garden don’t qualify as exercise, think again.

The primary factor in choosing an activity should be whether or not you enjoy it. Of course, an okay from your doctor also is advisable, particularly for men over 45 and women over 55, or those with special medical conditions or risk factors for heart disease.


How much exercise does it take?
How much one exercises is an individual decision, but numerous research studies indicate that hours of intense exercise are not necessary to reap the benefits detailed in the box above. In fact, health specialists now recommend that most adults accumulate 30 minutes or more of moderate physical activity on most days of the week.

Moderate activity is any activity that raises your heart rate and gets the blood pumping without leaving you out of breath or exhausted. So, rather than blocking off a large portion of one’s day, 10 minutes of walking at lunch and another 20 minutes after dinner, for example, is all it takes.
For those who are so inclined, exercising at slightly higher intensities for longer periods of time can bring about even greater health benefits.

Less important than the intensity or duration of each exercise session is making the commitment to perform some type of physical activity every day, whether you focus on aerobic, strength or flexibility training. Soon, the exhilaration of movement and the empowerment that comes with greater fitness and health will have you hooked on exercise.

It won’t happen overnight, and there may be some aspects you find less enjoyable (some people just can’t get over the sweating part of it), but the sense of feeling better, of feeling healthier, will overpower any negative attitudes toward exercise that you may still be harboring.
Don’t worry. These, too, will pass. So, isn’t it about time you got started?


Additional Resource
National Institutes of Health Weight Control Information Network—Active at Any Size: www.win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/active.htm


Individuals who exercise regularly are less likely to develop:
•Heart disease
•Diabetes
•High blood pressure
•High cholesterol
•Certain forms of cancer
•Osteoporosis


Individuals who exercise regularly are more likely to:
•Maintain a healthy body weight
•Effectively control the pain and joint swelling that accompany arthritis
•Maintain lean muscle, which is often lost with increasing age
•Have higher levels of self-esteem and self-confidence
•Continue to perform activities of daily living as they grow older
•Experience overall feelings of well-being and good health

Source:
http://www.acefitness.org/fitfacts/fitfacts_display.aspx?itemid=2615

FINDING FIT WITHIN

Dr. Kraemer - Fitness Tips

Well you have now gotten a clean bill of health and are ready to get active! The biggest mistake most people make when starting a program is doing “too much, too fast”. Even in healthy people this can result in excessive soreness and unnecessary fatigue. So start slow and work into a total conditioning program.

Another mistake too many people make is that they do not address a total conditioning program and just perform one exercise. A great example is the 45 year old corporate executive who was an avid runner and got pretty good running in 10K races and enjoyed his workouts.

However, he never did any resistance training and thus had low strength fitness. He also had a love of skiing and was pretty good on the short runs in the New England region but then took on some serious hills that were double and triple the time down the hill out West. With these more demanding and long downhill runs his lack of strength and power ended up in a knee injury on a late run in the day. In addition, without the needed muscular fitness his recovery was slower as well. So it is important to have a program that addresses all of the fitness elements.

A total conditioning program consists of cardiovascular endurance fitness, muscular fitness, flexibility fitness and body composition fitness via optimal nutritional and supplementation practices.

Exercise training should also be progressive, meaning starting at a level that can be easily tolerated and progressing to harder workouts over time. In addition, variation in training called “periodization” should also be used in order to provide for needed rest for optimal recovery and to avoid boredom in the training programs.

In addition, a warm up and cool down should be a part of every workout and this should include both static and dynamic stretching and light warm-up activities.

The American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association currently recommend that healthy adults need:

* 30 minutes (minimum) of moderate intensity cardio, 5 days per week
- or -
* 20 minutes (minimum) of vigorous intensity cardiovascular exercise, 3 days per week

Moderate intensity physical activity is classified as a physical activity performed at a level sufficient to noticeably raise one’s heart rate and cause one to break a sweat, yet still allow the individual to carry on a conversation (such as brisk walking).

Vigorous-intensity activity is classified as a physical activity that causes rapid breathing and a sufficient elevation in heart rate (such as jogging). These activities should be performed in addition to the routine activities of daily living.

These guidelines can be achieved by combining moderate- and vigorous-intensity physical activities on different days. It is possible to achieve these guidelines by walking briskly for 30 minutes two days per week, and jogging at a higher intensity on two other days per week.

Additionally, these recommendations are minimum recommendations. In order to lose weight or maintain weight loss, 60 - 90 minutes of exercise may be necessary.

Tips for fitting cardiovascular exercise into a busy lifestyle

Accumulate 30 minutes - The recommended 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity can be achieved by three shorter 10-minute bouts of exercise, totaling 30 minutes. Research indicates, that this can be just as affective as 30-minutes of moderate intensity physical activity done in a single bout, and is particularly useful for individuals who have a hard time finding 30 minutes at one time.
Schedule the activity - It is important to make exercise a regular part of a daily schedule by setting specific days and times for exercise.
Choose activities you enjoy - In order to stay motivated and adhere to exercise goals, activity selection is important. Suitable activities to meet the recommendations are vast, and include such activities as swimming, biking, or playing basketball with friends. Activity selection should consider individual interests, needs, schedules, environment, family, work, and social commitments, travel, and weather conditions.

In my next article we will examine how to determine your exercise intensity.

Keep up the good work and just get started with some regular cardiovascular activities to help you get into the habit of exercising several times a week. Remember, you need to take that time for yourself to optimize your health and fitness potential and live life to its fullest!

Good luck and good training.

William J. Kraemer, Ph.D., FACSM, FNSCA, CSCS
Professor, Human Performance Laboratory
Department of Kinesiology
University of Connecticut