The Fountain of Youth?

A recent study in the UK involving 300 people  suggested that exercise was as effective as medications in the treatment of stroke, and heart disease.  The researchers were conservative in their conclusions and ended up stating something to the effect that folks should not quit taking their meds but it might help them a bit to exercise also.

Studies from the Cooper Institute which have been largely ignored except by exercise afficionados, are more to the point.  In comparing folks who exercise and folks who do not exercise, and specifying this to be cardio exercise (or aerobic exercise in which the individual raises the heartrate to aerobic level and keeps it there for at least 20 minutes - this includes walking, bicycling, skating etc), Cooper and others found that doing cardio exercise for 30 minutes at least 5 days a week, not only reduces the risk of heart attack, stroke and thrombosis by 40% but also can add 10-15 years to lifespan if the person keeps it up for years.

That's huge but doing cardio seems to be something many people dread doing.  They do it on and off so not consistent with it and obviously feel it's about as much fun as having a root canal.

Truth being that cardio exercise is the type of exercise that does not hurt, and includes fun activities like bicycling and skating.  Even a brisk walk can invigorate a person.

Experts tell us exercise is a habit we must work at but actually, it's more of a commitment. I feel certain that if folks knew how much of a health benefit exercise is, they'd work to do it. Unfortunately, few of us hear anything about cardio from our medical providers and when the exercise fad of the early 1990's ended, so did any mention of exercise on TV end.

Bottom line - our muscles want to be worked, our bodies not only enjoy exercise but thrive on a regular exercise program.  Exercise is the closest thing to the fountain of youth I've found.  It may not be good for causing a weight loss but it's certainly good for most anything else to do with our health.

So dust off that bicycle or those skates or your walking shoes and get some exercise in this week.  Your body will love it and so will your heart!

Do we sit too much?

Computers are great but problem is, we don't have to expend much energy using them (says she sitting in her easy chair writing this blog)! :)

Will sitting too much kill us? Well, it depends on how much we move otherwise and all of this is very unproven, anyway although if you listen to the scare tactics in the news, you might get the impression, it's well proven! hmmm. Fact remains, even with our cars, and sitting most of the time, we today, are living decades longer than our active ancestors. Perhaps one can go too far in getting upset about lifestyle? Just make sure you get in a 30 or more minute cardio workout daily or most days, and do get up from your desk every so often but even if you don't do this, you will likely live a lot longer than your active ancestors lived. Thank modern medicine - also modern nutrition, sanitation and a myriad of factors! :) At the link below are some good suggestions that those of us who sit a lot at computers can do to help our bodies and our hearts. Of course, they emphasize the "dangers" of obesity - they missed that there are no studies which found that obesity ALONE kills - ooops...and in re-visiting this infographic (which I originally put up here because the person asking me to do so was charming - ok...not the best reasoning...anyway, in re-visiting it, I find several things on it which are either unproven or questionable. Because of that I have removed the infographic but you can still view it at the link below. I think some of the info on it may be outdated or unproven. Take-away message - if you sit at work all day, get up from your chair, once every hour or so and walk around. During lunch or breaks, take a little walk - no evidence that you will survive longer than the office chair potato (cousin of the couch potato) but at least the exercise will invigorate you and send blood to the brain etc. i.e. it's all good! :)...

See InfoGraphic at: Infographic about sitting too much and the dangers thereof