“Those who do not find time for exercise will have to find time for illness.” -anonymous

We are a health care society! We only try to remain healthy by popping pills. Instead, we need to be a disease prevention society (focused on WELLNESS). We need to try our level best to prevent health problems through:

• Lifestyle choices (identify life goals)
• Exercise (be your own personal trainer)
• Nutrition

Today, we shall focus on Physical Exercise!

Why exercise? If we want to live a long, healthy, disease free life then slender or overweight, exercise MUST is a must to be physically fit.

And why we need to be Physically Fit?

We need to be FIT to be able to do our work and have energy remaining for recreational activities.
Components of fitness include

• muscular strength – reduces risk of back pain/ osteoporosis
• muscular endurance
• flexibility – Maximum range of motion possible in a joint or series of joints.

Reduces risk of Musculo Skeletal/ back pain

• Cardiovascular endurance – prevents coronary heart disease and thus heart attacks
• Body composition – managing body weight & body fat percentage reduces risk of high blood pressure, diabetes & heart disease
• Agility – increases responsiveness in emergency situations

To understand this, we must get introduced to the umbrella term – Hypokinetic diseases – are disease conditions that result due to a sedentary lifestyle. Commonest would be obesity and other complications arising from sedentary behaviour. Hypokinetic conditions include:

• High Blood pressure
• Heart disease
• Back problems
• Obesity
• Type 2 diabetes
• Osteoporosis

And when we need to exercise regularly; we are, generally, out of shape and overweight. 27% of us do not exercise at all; Approx. 64% are overweight; even more that 25% children are overweight!

And how do we know we are physically fit?

• We have the capacity to adapt and respond favorably to physical effort.
• We have the ability to engage in daily living activities without undue fatigue.

Most people when questioned about physical exercise, keep harping on “I never sit”; “I walk at least 6 km in the day in my marketing job”; “I do all the work at home” etc etc.
All of this is Physical activity! It not physical exercise!!

Physical exercise is divided in two types:

• Aerobic exercise (literally means ‘With oxygen’); in this exercise the person is able to converse. It must be done continuously so as sustain elevated heart rate for 20 – 60 minutes; 20 minutes being the minimum. It should be done 3 – 5 times per week. It involves the whole bodye.g. running, brisk walking, biking, swimming, dancing etc. Aerobic exercise is the primary activity for weight loss and strengthens the heart.
• Anaerobic exercise (means ‘without oxygen): in anaerobic exercise the person unable to converse. It is for a short duration and it is of high intensity e.g. weight lifting
• Stretching is a form of physical exercise in which a specific muscle (or muscle group) or tendon is intentionally flexed or stretched in order to improve the muscle’s elasticity. The result is a feeling of increased muscle control, flexibility and range of motion. Stretching is also helps relieve a cramp. It helps prevent injury to tendons, ligaments and muscles.

What are the benefits of physical exercise?

• Helps develops greater lean body mass; aids weight management
• Increases pumping strength of the heart
• Lowers resting heart rate; Lowers blood pressure
• Helps prevent / delay Type II Diabetes
• Helps sleeping patterns
• Prevents chronic back pain
• Reduces anxiety / stress
• Reverses the aging process and extends longevity