Gabriel Guzman
03-07-2006, 05:28 PM
Live a healthy lifestyle… eat right, exercise more… How many times we hear the same words from nutrition gurus, fitness experts and the Surgeon General? The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued a report on CDC report on Physical Activity and Health with what has been learned from decades of research about physical activity. Among its major findings, there are three points worth mentioning (my bold type):
People who are usually inactive can improve their health and wellbeing by becoming even moderately active on a regular basis.
Physical activity need not be strenuous to achieve health benefits.
Greater health benefits can be achieved by increasing the amount (duration, frequency, or intensity) of physical activity.
Another, shorter way to summarize these findings is: Physical Activity is not optional! Note that none of those points above mention the word ‘exercise’; the words used are physical activity.
As it usually happens, either for historical or traditional reasons, the lack of specificity when we communicate results in the misuse of terms to the point of using them interchangeably when they in fact mean something different. A nice example is ‘global warming’. The first thing that comes to mind is that every part on the Earth is becoming warmer, which may or not be true. What it is true, however, is that there is ‘global climate change’, some parts becoming warmer and some others unseasonable colder.
With regard to health, within the media and the literature, the terms well-being, health, physical activity, exercise and fitness are often interlinked and even used interchangeably when those terms have specific definitions, and should be used appropriately.
Health and well-being are more than just the absence of illness. In fact, those terms encompass the combined state of four elements: physical health, mental health, social health, and spiritual health.
Physical activity is defined as any voluntary muscle movement or action which raises the energy demands of the body and the rate of blood circulation above that of a resting stat. Everybody that moves engages in some kind of physical activity. The farmer, the postman that either walks or uses a bicycle, a construction worker… Almost every study that has looked at the health changes related to including moderate physical activity show that people with more physical activity (and those with more active jobs) had a lower incidence of heart disease and related health risk factors. The CDC report summarizes some of the benefits of regular physical activity as follows:
Reduces the risk of dying prematurely
Reduces the dying from heart disease
Reduces the risk of developing diabetes
Reduces the risk of developing high blood pressure
Helps reduce blood pressure in people who are already hypertensive
Reduces the risk of developing colon cancer
Helps control weight
Reduces feelings of depression and anxiety
Helps build and maintain healthy bones, muscles and joints
Helps older adults become stronger and better able to move about without falling
Promotes psychological well-being
Interestingly enough, the examples of moderate physical activity range from washing and waxing a car for 45-60 minutes to stairwalking for 15 minutes, with the former being less vigorous (which normally requires more time) and the latter more vigorous, which normally requires less time. Moderate amount of physical activity is defined as roughly equivalent to physical activity that uses approximately 150 calories of energy per day, or 1000 calories per week. Based on that definition, even playing volleyball for 45 minutes or doing water aerobics for 30 are considered by the CDC as “moderate physical activity”. The point to make is that any kind of physical activity is better than no activity at all!
In the last 200 years, the acknowledgement of the effects of low levels of daily physical activity on health have led to the popular concept of structured leisure time physical activity, otherwise known as exercise. Exercise is then the intent to be physically active within a framework of time. Time has to be set aside to perform exercise and time is often used as one of the factors in measuring the performance of exercise capacity. The differences between physical activity and exercise are then structure and ‘time. Physical activity and exercise are not mutually exclusive; in fact exercise is a component of any physical activity. Physical activity is the end whereas exercise is the ‘means’. Therefore, any kind of physical activity benefits from exercise to increase one’s fitness to perform a particular physical activity. Golfers benefit from structured exercise to increase their core strength, drive and avoid elbow injuries just as much as avid gardeners benefit from structured exercise to increase their energy levels, flexibility and endurance.
But what does ‘structured exercise’ mean? It means the practice of bodily physical activity progressively and organized to develop and maintain physical fitness for the benefit of health and performance. In other words, exercise aims to develop and increase physical fitness so we can perform (and enjoy) any physical activity better and without injury. The take home message is exercise is the means; physical activity is the end.
A good example of this is the popular TV add about BowFlex in which a volleyball player says he uses a BowFlex machine to ‘get back in the game’. Brands aside, the TV commercial is right on the money about one thing: he doesn’t play more volleyball to become a better player… he strengthens his entire body to achieve that. It makes sense because to play volleyball you need to develop many attributes: good height in your jumps, strong legs, strong mid section (core), strong arms and most important, good stamina. Whereas playing more volleyball helps the player improve his skills and reflexes, training his body in an integral way (i.e. working out consistently all muscle groups) improves his performance. If we enjoy gardening or dancing, we improve our performance not by gardening more or dancing longer but by strengthening our body which increases our stamina and flexibility. So, it turns out that strengthening our bodies actually helps us become fitter to go about our lives without injury and enjoying any kind of physical activity in all aspects.
Fitness… Perhaps the most misused concept of all. The problem with the word fitness is in the way the media and literature use it. Down the its core definition, fitness means the ability to perform moderate to vigorous levels of physical activity without undue fatigue and the capability of maintaining such ability throughout life. Another, more practical way to define fitness is, in simple words, a way to measure exercise capacity and as a way to measure exercise capacity, there are typically four elements of fitness:
cardiovascular endurance
muscular endurance
muscular strength
flexibility of muscles and joints
Therefore, any kind of physical activity that incorporates those elements invariably results in increased fitness and pretty much the only way to develop all those elements is through structured exercise. So, putting it all together, if we want to be fit to practice our favorite physical activity for a long time (for life), then we need to exercisse.
Finally, there are two types of fitness; health-related fitness and sports-related fitness. Improving fitness for health and well-being should incorporate all four elements of fitness above. Fitness for sports is a completely different story and is typically much more specific to one of the four individual elements of fitness. The one thing to remember here is that pursuing fitness for a specific physical goal or performance, whether against others or just a stopwatch can also reach a point where it’s of no further benefit and possibly even a detriment to one’s health.
In other words, it’s all about goals. Our goals determine our physical activities, which in turn need exercise so we become fit to perform them, and ultimately those goals determine whether we pursue health-related or sports-related benefits.
Since physical activity is not optional and exercise is a component of physical activity, then exercise is not optional either and is (or should be) at the core of any physical activity we want to enjoy. Someone once said those who cannot find time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness. The next question to ask now is how do we (or should we) exercise? “And that, little Adam, will be our next story…”
People who are usually inactive can improve their health and wellbeing by becoming even moderately active on a regular basis.
Physical activity need not be strenuous to achieve health benefits.
Greater health benefits can be achieved by increasing the amount (duration, frequency, or intensity) of physical activity.
Another, shorter way to summarize these findings is: Physical Activity is not optional! Note that none of those points above mention the word ‘exercise’; the words used are physical activity.
As it usually happens, either for historical or traditional reasons, the lack of specificity when we communicate results in the misuse of terms to the point of using them interchangeably when they in fact mean something different. A nice example is ‘global warming’. The first thing that comes to mind is that every part on the Earth is becoming warmer, which may or not be true. What it is true, however, is that there is ‘global climate change’, some parts becoming warmer and some others unseasonable colder.
With regard to health, within the media and the literature, the terms well-being, health, physical activity, exercise and fitness are often interlinked and even used interchangeably when those terms have specific definitions, and should be used appropriately.
Health and well-being are more than just the absence of illness. In fact, those terms encompass the combined state of four elements: physical health, mental health, social health, and spiritual health.
Physical activity is defined as any voluntary muscle movement or action which raises the energy demands of the body and the rate of blood circulation above that of a resting stat. Everybody that moves engages in some kind of physical activity. The farmer, the postman that either walks or uses a bicycle, a construction worker… Almost every study that has looked at the health changes related to including moderate physical activity show that people with more physical activity (and those with more active jobs) had a lower incidence of heart disease and related health risk factors. The CDC report summarizes some of the benefits of regular physical activity as follows:
Reduces the risk of dying prematurely
Reduces the dying from heart disease
Reduces the risk of developing diabetes
Reduces the risk of developing high blood pressure
Helps reduce blood pressure in people who are already hypertensive
Reduces the risk of developing colon cancer
Helps control weight
Reduces feelings of depression and anxiety
Helps build and maintain healthy bones, muscles and joints
Helps older adults become stronger and better able to move about without falling
Promotes psychological well-being
Interestingly enough, the examples of moderate physical activity range from washing and waxing a car for 45-60 minutes to stairwalking for 15 minutes, with the former being less vigorous (which normally requires more time) and the latter more vigorous, which normally requires less time. Moderate amount of physical activity is defined as roughly equivalent to physical activity that uses approximately 150 calories of energy per day, or 1000 calories per week. Based on that definition, even playing volleyball for 45 minutes or doing water aerobics for 30 are considered by the CDC as “moderate physical activity”. The point to make is that any kind of physical activity is better than no activity at all!
In the last 200 years, the acknowledgement of the effects of low levels of daily physical activity on health have led to the popular concept of structured leisure time physical activity, otherwise known as exercise. Exercise is then the intent to be physically active within a framework of time. Time has to be set aside to perform exercise and time is often used as one of the factors in measuring the performance of exercise capacity. The differences between physical activity and exercise are then structure and ‘time. Physical activity and exercise are not mutually exclusive; in fact exercise is a component of any physical activity. Physical activity is the end whereas exercise is the ‘means’. Therefore, any kind of physical activity benefits from exercise to increase one’s fitness to perform a particular physical activity. Golfers benefit from structured exercise to increase their core strength, drive and avoid elbow injuries just as much as avid gardeners benefit from structured exercise to increase their energy levels, flexibility and endurance.
But what does ‘structured exercise’ mean? It means the practice of bodily physical activity progressively and organized to develop and maintain physical fitness for the benefit of health and performance. In other words, exercise aims to develop and increase physical fitness so we can perform (and enjoy) any physical activity better and without injury. The take home message is exercise is the means; physical activity is the end.
A good example of this is the popular TV add about BowFlex in which a volleyball player says he uses a BowFlex machine to ‘get back in the game’. Brands aside, the TV commercial is right on the money about one thing: he doesn’t play more volleyball to become a better player… he strengthens his entire body to achieve that. It makes sense because to play volleyball you need to develop many attributes: good height in your jumps, strong legs, strong mid section (core), strong arms and most important, good stamina. Whereas playing more volleyball helps the player improve his skills and reflexes, training his body in an integral way (i.e. working out consistently all muscle groups) improves his performance. If we enjoy gardening or dancing, we improve our performance not by gardening more or dancing longer but by strengthening our body which increases our stamina and flexibility. So, it turns out that strengthening our bodies actually helps us become fitter to go about our lives without injury and enjoying any kind of physical activity in all aspects.
Fitness… Perhaps the most misused concept of all. The problem with the word fitness is in the way the media and literature use it. Down the its core definition, fitness means the ability to perform moderate to vigorous levels of physical activity without undue fatigue and the capability of maintaining such ability throughout life. Another, more practical way to define fitness is, in simple words, a way to measure exercise capacity and as a way to measure exercise capacity, there are typically four elements of fitness:
cardiovascular endurance
muscular endurance
muscular strength
flexibility of muscles and joints
Therefore, any kind of physical activity that incorporates those elements invariably results in increased fitness and pretty much the only way to develop all those elements is through structured exercise. So, putting it all together, if we want to be fit to practice our favorite physical activity for a long time (for life), then we need to exercisse.
Finally, there are two types of fitness; health-related fitness and sports-related fitness. Improving fitness for health and well-being should incorporate all four elements of fitness above. Fitness for sports is a completely different story and is typically much more specific to one of the four individual elements of fitness. The one thing to remember here is that pursuing fitness for a specific physical goal or performance, whether against others or just a stopwatch can also reach a point where it’s of no further benefit and possibly even a detriment to one’s health.
In other words, it’s all about goals. Our goals determine our physical activities, which in turn need exercise so we become fit to perform them, and ultimately those goals determine whether we pursue health-related or sports-related benefits.
Since physical activity is not optional and exercise is a component of physical activity, then exercise is not optional either and is (or should be) at the core of any physical activity we want to enjoy. Someone once said those who cannot find time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness. The next question to ask now is how do we (or should we) exercise? “And that, little Adam, will be our next story…”