“Why you should take a dog for a walk, even if you don’t own one!”
Now I am not suggesting that we should all start kidnapping our neighbour’s best friend but let’s explore some ideas around this quotation.
Somebody once said that throughout most of human history, food has been relatively scarce and physical exercise abundant; only when the status of these two things is reversed – does:
“Exercise make sense!”
Well in today’s developed world where we do not have to hunt and gather food it is difficult to argue that we have not reached this impasse!
The major causes of modern premature death e.g. coronary heart disease are now lifestyle related – specifically poor diet and a lack of physical exercise.
Many populations have a dangerous imbalance between physical exercise and food intake and as we all know over time; this imbalance translates to EARLY health related problems.
So much so that chronological age is not a reliable means of deciding when a person becomes old!
The recommendations for physical exercise are in the public domain:
International governments recommend a daily minimum of 3o minutes physical exercise with a mix of:
Moderate-intensity aerobic activity
Vigorous-intensity aerobic activity
Activities should also involve muscle-strengthening activities and bone-strengthening activities.
But how can health professionals make this real for everyone if they are not a competitive athlete or do not have the confidence or ability to going public with their limited sporting prowess and perceive exercise as unpleasant.
The answer lies in finding and using any form of SKELETAL PHYSICAL MOVEMENT that increases your heart rate whatever that looks and feels like with e.g.
Walking the dog at least 5 miles
Gardening
Washing your windows
Lifting and carrying shopping bags
Using the stairs instead of escalators or lifts
Now I am not suggesting that we should all start kidnapping our neighbour’s best friend but let’s explore some ideas around this quotation.
“Exercise make sense!”
Well in today’s developed world where we do not have to hunt and gather food it is difficult to argue that we have not reached this impasse!
The major causes of modern premature death e.g. coronary heart disease are now lifestyle related – specifically poor diet and a lack of physical exercise.
Many populations have a dangerous imbalance between physical exercise and food intake and as we all know over time; this imbalance translates to EARLY health related problems.
So much so that chronological age is not a reliable means of deciding when a person becomes old!
The recommendations for physical exercise are in the public domain:
International governments recommend a daily minimum of 3o minutes physical exercise with a mix of:
Moderate-intensity aerobic activity
Vigorous-intensity aerobic activity
Activities should also involve muscle-strengthening activities and bone-strengthening activities.
But how can health professionals make this real for everyone if they are not a competitive athlete or do not have the confidence or ability to going public with their limited sporting prowess and perceive exercise as unpleasant.
The answer lies in finding and using any form of SKELETAL PHYSICAL MOVEMENT that increases your heart rate whatever that looks and feels like with e.g.
Walking the dog at least 5 miles
Gardening
Washing your windows
Lifting and carrying shopping bags
Using the stairs instead of escalators or lifts
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