Exercise would be as normal as breathing in the wild setting. If we were not industriously finding food, building shelters and fighting off saber-toothed tigers we would not survive. Under those circumstances eating was the reward for exercise. In the modern world we don’t have to exercise to any extent to get our food. We may have cleverly changed our circumstances but we have not changed the rule that eating is the fuel and the reward for exercise. If you are not exercising you should not be eating… or at least doing very little of it. This is a natural law rarely quoted these days. Ignoring and violating it results in a penalty, obesity and disease.
But today, when essentially all of our needs are met at arm’s length, being sedentary is normal. Getting rewards for physically doing nothing is also possible. So the decision has to be made to exercise. Why do it? Because it is what your body is designed for and health cannot result without it.
Exercise can take many forms. There are four categories: work related, aerobic, strength and sport. Work-related exercise can burn calories and bring benefits if it is not extreme and relentless. The same motions and impacts done over and over, day after day, can actually tear the body down over time and result in work-related injury. Carpel tunnel syndrome from merely typing day after day at a keyboard is a good example. Be careful of excessive and repeated monotonous activity. Additionally, the body adapts to the same movements and will not improve unless there is added stress. For full benefit, other full- body exercise is important even if you have an active job.
The other three forms of exercise take conscious effort. Aerobics – running, cycling, swimming, fast walking, rapid weight lifting – helps stimulate metabolism and increase respiratory and circulatory strength, as well as endurance. Strength training—lifting weights or the like—maintains or grows strength, improves physical appearance and increases bone density reducing the risk of osteoporosis and fracture. Athletic sport can combine aerobics, strength, speed and flexibility. The ideal is a sport you can prepare for by using aerobics and strength training. Improvement goals in the sport help motivate and focus on fitness goals.
Like anything else in life that is worthwhile, exercise benefits take effort. It may mean some sweat, soreness, fatigue and even an occasional injury. In fact, if you never experience an injury or soreness, there is a good chance you do not have enough intensity, and will not get results either. “No pain, no gain” is pretty true.
Exercise like you mean it – none of the namby-pamby, faking it stuff. If you do not breathe hard or briefly exhaust muscles two to three times a week, you are probably not doing yourself any good. Do you go to a gym and spend lots of time lying on a soft mat stretching (a proven worthless “exercise”)? Did you spend $120 on those Nike cross-trainers, pay that big club fee and shop for that just right, looking good leotard workout suit to lie around stretching? (Ya gotta love this picture!) Do you do nice and easy, slow, partial reps with five lbs. while gabbing with friends or a trainer? Don’t kid yourself. Nothing comes easy. Yes, you will have to breathe hard and strain and grunt a little and even experience some soreness. I know your personal trainer might tell you to take it easy, avoid getting sore, and the like. If your trainer looks like he or she works out, they are lying to you because they would never achieve their toned look without effort and discomfort. If they don’t look like they work out, then they shouldn’t be training you.
Recently at a gym I saw a personal trainer who looked as if training really wasn’t a part of her life, instructing a client. Weights used were miniscule, range of motion far less than it should be, constant chatter, frequent swigs on a sugared sports drink and lots of long breaks in between sets. No sweat, no strain, no breathing hard, no pushing to limits. I believe some trainers make it as easy as they can to make sure people return. Since most people don’t want any discomfort, these trainers keep workouts easy, comfortable, casual – and meaningless.