Posted 26 JANUARY 2006 (Expanded 2006 based on 1996 story)
Want to keep moving?
Staleness may be interesting, but the predominant exercise problem is
too little, not too much; sloth, not overtraining. Regular exercise is
necessary for healthy circulatory, respiratory and immune systems. Exercise
seems to prevent some cancers, and is a chief defense against diabetes
and obesity, both now rampant in the United States.
The
American College of
Sports Medicine suggests we do aerobic exercise for three to five
days a week, for 30 to 45 minutes a day. But most Americans don't come
close, says Raglin. "Hardly anyone -- maybe 20 percent of the population
-- exercises to the degree that they should to maintain cardiovascular
health."
Too many of us spend too long watching the tragic lantern (AKA boob tube) instead of on the run, in the pool, or in the saddle. Raglin knows human hostility to heavy breathing from experience designing fitness programs for sedentary people. "If you take people and give them good equipment and a good training program," he laments, "half of them will quit before long. Here we live in a society where health, fitness, and a fit body are highly valued, and there are a lot of couch potatoes."
But if you've caught Olympic fever, here are some simple suggestions for safe, effective exercise:
Don't overdo it at first -- that's a recipe for aches, sprains and discouragement. Start slowly and build up. And talk to your doc first.
He
loves biking. Shouldn't his exercise program take advantage of that fact?
(Okay, he's young for an "exercise program" but you get the
point...). Catch the crazy cow mailbox in the background? ©
David Tenenbaum
This last point is sometimes lost on exercise advocates, noted William Morgan. "If you read the American Heart Association guidelines, they imply that all exercise is running. They talk about selecting shorts that are not too tight ... making sure the upper body has warm clothes." But what will happen, Morgan wonders, when he dives into a pool while bundled up in winter clothes?
Beyond "following your bliss" when choosing exercise, Morgan suggests a different approach to exercising. Instead of "walking on treadmills to nowhere," use your muscles for "purposeful physical activity, whether walking for transportation to work, to the store, to church, or walking your dog or splitting wood."
Purposeful physical activity can transcend boredom, he adds. "There are people who have a personality structure that lends itself to doing meaningless activity, staring at a wall or television, riding an ergometer [stationary bike] to nowhere. It's fine if they can adhere to that, but 50 percent of all people who take up formal exercise quit in a few months, and another 25 percent quit later on."
Watching football may make you happy, but not fit.
© David Tenenbaum
Exercising while aging
Exercise is critical to successful aging, according to Steven Devor, who
studies aging and exercise at The Ohio State University. As you age, your
muscles weaken and shrink, says Devor. He focuses on the mass of skeletal
muscles -- the ones that move the limbs, because it's a good indication
of strength. Muscle mass starts to decline around age 30 for most Americans;
the decline may occur a decade later among active people.
Then
matters get worse, he adds. "By 40 to 50, you will start seeing approximately
a 5 percent decline per decade, and the decline starts to accelerate after
age 50." The muscle of athletes may decline more slowly, he says, but
"it doesn't matter what you do, losing muscle mass is an inevitable consequence
of aging. By age 80, it's common to have only half as much muscle as you
did at age 30."
Big, strong muscles help older people stay independent. "The primary thing that puts people into full-service nursing homes is not disease," Devor says, but rather the inability "to do what we call the activities of daily living, climbing a flight of steps, getting a pot down from the shelf, rising from the toilet or bathtub." And the key to these activities, he says, is to "maintain adequate skeletal muscle mass."
She
loves running. You wanna convince her to bike instead? ©
David Tenenbaum
The cardiovascular system benefits from aerobic exercise, but muscle mass depends on resistance training -- lifting weighs or using exercise machines. Resistance training also strengthens tendons and ligaments, Devor adds, and causes bones to "pick up extra calcium, so they become harder, denser, they don't get as osteoporotic." Proper resistance training can strengthen and protect joints, Devor says, even among people who do not aspire to bench press 350 pounds.
The good news is that most people can slow the decline of muscle mass, or even restore some muscle with resistance training. But the bad news that even trained athletes lose mass. "If you maintain a high level of training, the decline at 50 and beyond is about half as fast, or about 5 percent per decade, Devor says. "It's going to happen, it's just a matter of how fast you want to slide."
The role of the mind in the body.
