Our Bodies are Made to Move
In the last 60 years a profound lifestyle change has taken place. The in-troduction of labour saving devices in the home, as well as technology & office based tasks in the work place & cars as the main means of transport has resulted in people leading sedentary lives. This sedentary lifestyle has lead to hypo kinetic diseases (diseases associated with low levels of activity) being the biggest killers. Coronary heart disease, obesity & obesity related diseases like diabetes are on the increase.
Another important factor which contributes to the population being overweight is overeating & eating the wrong foods. The availability & convenience of processed foods which are packed with sugar, fat & refined ingredients means we are consuming too many calories & not enough quality nutrients.
The Health of the Nation Report (1994) revealed that 80% of the population were classified as inactive. According to findings from the Health Education Authority & the Allied Dunbar survey in the 1990's
- Most adults believe they do enough exercise to keep fit
- 70% of men & 80% of women are not active enough to benefit their health
- 90% of adults believe that it is fairly important to exercise regularly yet only 40% do it
- 80% were not aware of how much to do
- 2/3 of women & 1/3 of men found it difficult to walk briskly up a slight slope for a while
- 1/3 of men &1/2 of women aged between 65 & 74 do not have sufficient muscle strength or power to lift 50% of their body weight making every-day movements difficult such as getting up from a chair without using their arms.
In order to accomplish the basic requirements for daily physical activity one should do 30 minutes of activity that will raise the heart to 50-90% of its maximum capacity (MHR) using large muscles. In other words it should make the individual warm & slightly out of breath. This can be broken down into 3 x 10 minute sessions.
To maximise aerobic fitness, one should take part in physical exercise 3-5 times a week, working at 60-90% of the maximum heart rate for 20-60 minutes using the large muscle groups continually & rhythmically.
Many people associate resistance training with bodybuilding however this is just one aspect of it. The benefits of resistance training include : increase in fat free mass, decrease in fat mass, increases in strength & muscular endurance, improved posture, an increase in metabolic rate & improvement of the immune system.
As technological advances have made our lives easier we must now seriously consider the importance of structured physical activity to meet the needs of our bodies.