For decades health professionals have been warning that increased mortality is associated with sedentary lifestyles. According to Healthy People 2020, 36% of adults did not pursue any physical activity during leisure time. A study discussed in a recent Harvard Heart Letter revealed that the average participant’s day consisted of 7.7 hours sleep and 10.4 hours sitting— presumably much of that at work.
Many people who work out have their favorite exercises; however, to be fully fit, both aerobic and anaerobic exercises should be combined in a workout regimen.
Exercise burns calories and builds muscle and bones. It is a necessity for good health at any stage in life, especially for senior citizens. Many health problems faced by older people might have been avoided if exercise had been part of a daily routine. Any movement burns calories. I could write a weight loss book in one sentence: “If you burn more calories than you take in, you will lose weight,” end of book. I coauthored Lose the Weight, and Keep the Faith, with Nick Gaglione, a fitness trainer. “Cut and burn” was the crux of our message. If you cut calories and burn calories through purposeful exercising you will lose weight. To lose a pound a week, you must burn 3500 calories more than you consume.
We give a lot of attention to physical health with constant headlines scaring us about cancer-causing agents and obesity among other ills. The “U.S. healthcare industry is massive” with
spending over $4 trillion in 2021 (that’s over 19 percent of all the goods and services produced in
the U.S.) and forecast to be over $6 trillion by 2028. 1 Emotional health is also on a lot minds due
to the alarming jump in irrational, violent, and criminal behavior since the Covid-19 pandemic
with over 90 percent of Americans say we were in a “mental health crisis”. 2 Yet, how many
people do you hear expressing concern over spiritual health?
Have you ever brought up the idea of becoming a new runner to your friends or coworkers and they seemed repulsed? Negative conclusions drive people away from the amazing art form of running. “Gross,” they say, or “Why do you do that to yourself?” Maybe you have had that experience, or maybe you are that … Read more