Look beyond the mirror
Exercise is vital for long, healthy life
Iwas calling someone at Simon Fraser University the other day, and realized that it was exactly 20 years ago that I graduated with my kinesiology degree and started my professional practice. At that time, as an athlete and new kinesiologist, I was very passionate about the benefits of exercise and conditioning for almost anyone, and I wanted to educate more people about this.
Since then, there has been a huge increase in the acceptance of the significant role of exercise in living a long, healthy life and in helping us to excel at almost all that we do. Every day new research emerges pointing to exercise as the answer for both prevention and management of illness, injury and chronic disease.
Leaders in medicine and sport medicine are acknowledging with increasing conviction that exercise and fitness training are essential, valuable contributors to a lifetime of health and wellness.
The world’s largest and most successful corporations count on employee health and wellness programs to increase productivity and reduce absenteeism and health-care costs for their staff. Professional and amateur sporting organizations rely on conditioning specialists to ensure the greatest level of performance from their athletes and reduce sports-related injuries.
The examples are endless and the solution is always the same. The right exercise program provides results.
All of this understanding and awareness brings one big question to the forefront. Why is exercise so important? There’s a lot more to the answer than just how exercise improves your reflection in the mirror.
EXERCISE AND
HEALTH
This is a big one. Health is a very broad topic, but consider that appropriate exercise is indicated in the prevention and management of almost every chronic disease, from diabetes to cardiovascular conditions to arthritis.
Exercise regulates our blood sugars, improves our circulation and respiration and removes waste products from our bodies while helping to deliver healthy nutrients to our cells and tissues.
The right approach to exercise helps balance and neutralize our body’s ph, keeping our internal environment from becoming too acidic, a condition that can contribute to multiple health problems.
Exercise helps maintain our caloric balance, preventing weight gain and obesity while allowing us to eat more nutritious food. It helps keep our muscles limber and our joints stable. It keeps us strong and agile, which reduces stress to our joints and decreases our likelihood of tripping and falling.
Exercise improves our static and dynamic posture and is essential in the treatment and prevention of back pain and other spinal conditions. Exercise is routinely prescribed as a cornerstone in rehabilitation programs for injuries, jointreplacement surgeries and cardiovascular events.
In summary, I believe it would be difficult to find an area of health that isn’t positively influenced by the performance of appropriate exercise.
EXERCISE AND PERFORMANCE
Twenty years ago, the sporting community’s approach to exercise was very different than it is today.
Even in the first years of my business, I worked closely with a number of athletes, including professional football players, and I remember being shocked that many athletes didn’t really train seriously. On my own university football team, many of the athletes got by on natural talent and didn’t see the need for training.
In this day and age, raw talent isn’t enough. It’s expected that all athletes must train hard because the benefits to their performance are well understood. An athlete who has high levels of athleticism, talent and technical ability, who also trains effectively, will set the bar very high, and his competitors will all need to work hard to keep up.
I believe that the takeaway message for everyone — not just for athletes — is that exercise will make you better, at whatever it is that you want to do.
EXERCISE AND
OUR MINDS
Looking past the physical rewards of exercise, there is ample evidence that regular activity benefits us mentally as well.
At the very least, the chemical endorphin release brought about during and after exercise improves our mood and enhances our feeling of well-being. This is so effective that exercise is prescribed in the prevention and management of depression.
Regular exercise has also been shown to improve our productivity, keeping us motivated and enthusiastic. It also keeps us alert and mentally sharp. Companies know that employees who exercise regularly are better able to manage stress and are more engaged and effective.
Exercise also improves confidence and self-image, which is vitally important in youth.