In this week’s chapters, we take a look at physical fitness and activity. Chapter 9 takes us through What Exercise Will Do For You. Some of the statistics in this chapter are pretty shocking – like that 80% of individuals are at risk for health problems due to less than adequate physical activity. The chapter focuses on cardiorespiratory fitness – the fitness of the heart and respiratory system – because it has the greatest impact on health. Some of the effects of regular fitness activity include:
- Lower risk for cardiovascular disease – individuals that are sedentary are eight times as likely to die,
- Lower risk for cancer – individuals who are sedentary are five times as likely to die,
- Stronger bones, since exercise increases bone mass thereby decreasing risk for breaks, and
- Improved mood and self-esteem.
In Chapter 10 – Physical Activity Nuts and Bolts – we learn about the type and length of exercise we need to be doing to maintain our health. Aldana reminds us that everything we do that is active counts – like gardening and cooking. The focus for cardiovascular fitness should be Fitness, Intensity and Time (or F.I.T.). The statement – Every adult should accumulate at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most, preferably all, days of the week. – includes the F, the I and the T. We learn that to get health benefits from exercise, we should be working at 60-90% of maximum heart rate (see page 158 for a chart). Finally, Aldana reminds us that fitness levels decrease with age (about 10% each decade after age 30), but that much can be regained by staying active.
Chapter 11 – Being Physically Active for Life – is the start of Dr. Aldana’s instructions on how. On page 177, there is a great chart outlining the specific benefits of and barriers to exercise. He believes that if the barriers are equal to or outweigh the benefits, people are more likely to stop being physically active. Since time commitment is most often a reason for lack of activity, he demonstrates how busy people combine physical activities with things they are already doing – such as parking further from a destination or mowing the lawn with a push mower. Finally, he recommends providing reminders to exercise (e.g., bringing walking shoes to work) and setting specific goals as the best ways to stay active.
What’s to come: This Thursday, Dr. Tony will provide his thoughts on Chapters 9, 10 and 11. We’ll take a break for Thanksgiving week and review the final set of Chapters (12, 13 and 14) the following week. Finally, Dr. Tony will host a Live Chat discussion of this book on December 4th at 3:00 p.m. ET on Ignite. Stay tuned to Ignite for more information!
Kerry
