The Magic Pill…

Wouldn’t you love a magic pill that could

make you live 8 years longer or more!!!?

You would take it wouldn’t you? Why not? Everyone would love to live longer, right? Not only live longer but have those extra years be healthy ones, not in a hospital bed.

Well, you can! It’s just not in pill form, but it can happen with proper nutrition and exercise.

Life expectancy is something people don’t start thinking about until they are close to death, and usually by then it’s too late. That attitude is obvious in this country by looking at the lack of physical fitness within our society compounded with the increasing obesity rate.

Whatever it is you live for, your kids, your family, your hobbies, etc. You should want to live a long and prosperous life, to do that you have to plan ahead. Physical fitness level should be considered even if your weight isn’t an issue.

Fitness level has become a far more important indicator of mortality than weight. Studies have shown that active people who are as much as 50 pounds overweight have better mortality rates than their thin counterparts who are sedentary. This proves to you that even if you struggle with weight loss or eating healthy, you should never give up exercising. It is not an “all or nothing” thing. Many of us can’t put it all together all of the time, but that doesn’t mean you should give up. Poor physical fitness is directly linked to higher disease rates and higher risk of death from all causes.

If you have a sedentary job- you are at an even greater risk. Those who sit for more than three hours per day at work could reduce your lifespan by 2 years!

It seems like the odds are always against us, as we get older, the more difficult is to stay healthy. We have the research and the proof on how to fight back. But, we insist on ignoring it and just keep on looking for that magic pill.

The University of Maryland Medical Center, along with the National Cancer Institute, conducted a long term study with 2 groups; an exercise group, and a non-exercise group. The results were astonishing.

The highlights were:

• The combination of inactivity and eating the wrong foods is the second most common preventable cause of death in the United States (smoking is the first).
• The American Heart Association strongly recommends that individuals do moderate exercise for at least 150 minutes per week or at least 75 minutes of vigorous (intense)
• No one is too young or too old to exercise.

The general population does not fully comprehend the actual difference regular exercise can make in quality of life and longevity. Being sedentary increases the risk of a magnitude of health issues

• 11% increase in coronary heart disease.
• 13% increase in type 2 diabetes.
• 18% increase in breast, colon, and prostate cancers.
• 19% increase in premature death from any cause.

Currently, only 22 percent of the U.S. adult population meets the minimum requirement of physical activity – 30 minutes of exercise 5 or more days per week.

Physical activity keeps heart vessels healthy and inhibits the formation of atherosclerotic plaques that can cause blood clots. Exercise has also been proven to lower high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and high cholesterol – which in turn reduces the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

As for cancers, such as breast and colon, exercise protects women by reducing fat – particularly dangerous belly fat, whose metabolic activity may trigger tumor growth in breast tissue. Researchers believe that exercise helps aid in healthy gastrointestinal issues and digestion regular which prevents cancer-causing waste from encouraging abnormal growths in the colon.

While the above study showed the increase risk of death with physical inactivity, the results for the exercise group not only negated those risks but shown that it adds years to your life.

• Those who exercised a minimum of 60 minutes per week = 3+ years.
• Those who exercised 2 ½ – 3 ½ hours per week = 5+ years.
• Those who exercised 5-7 hours per week = 7+ years.

The evidence has shown that as soon as somebody gets out of their chair, their blood sugar improves, their blood cholesterol and triglycerides improve, and that’s very consistent. Every time you are active and move it is better, every minute you are sedentary it is worse.

This study was also backed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They not only recommend the 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week, but they also recommend that includes a minimum of two days of strength training!

Everyone should hear this. Not listening to these results is the equivalent of a pregnant woman reading the side of a pack of cigarettes warning about how smoking can cause birth defects and then proceeding to light one up.

I believe everyone needs a trainer, whether it is for the accountability and motivation, or the actual knowledge of program design. These numbers have shown just because you may be thin and don’t need to lose weight, you still need this! I truly believe when people stop training it is the biggest disservice they can do to themselves next to smoking. In my 22 years as a personal trainer, I’ve heard all the excuses. Whether it is – don’t have the time, or don’t have the money. It is about prioritizing.

There really isn’t any excuse for any of us not to get in a minimum of 2 hours of exercise per week, deduct sleeping and we still have approximately 112 hours per week at our disposal! As far as money goes, we all seem to find it in our budgets to buy things we really want and not necessarily need, but when it comes to our health and longevity it seems we “can’t afford it”.

It’s all in black and white for you… the risks of not doing it, and the benefits of doing it – but yet we spend more time looking for that “magic pill”.