If you become a little less active and gain five pounds a year, that is not aging graceful. After a couple decades of that you’ll have 100 extra pounds of fat that may lead to metabolic syndrome - hyperinsulinemia, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hyperglycemia, and abdominal obesity. Your joints hurt, your feet hurt, and your breathing and walking become labored. Muscles weaken, and energy producing mitochondria go into an advanced state of disrepair. All this leads to more inactivity and eventually a heart attack or stroke.
From this study, Metabolic consequences of physical inactivity:
“Metabolic adaptation to muscle inactivity also involves development of resistance to the glucoregulatory action of diabetes medication, decreased energy requirements, and increased insulin and leptin secretion. These alterations may lead to the development of the metabolic syndrome that is defined as the association of hyperinsulinemia, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hyperglycemia, and abdominal obesity. This cluster of metabolic abnormalities is a risk factor for coronary artery disease and stroke.Evidence indicates that exercise training programs may counteract all of these abnormalities both in healthy sedentary subjects and in patients affected by a variety of chronic disease states.”
One person who counteracted many of these abnormalities is Leif. Eight years ago Leif was 48 and overweight. He had already had heart surgery, one kidney removed, and he was taking five diabetes medicationshots a day. Now Leif is down to one diabetes medication shot and is 60 pound lighter. He has been exercising with us once a week for 30 minutes for the last eight years. Each week he improved a little. Eventually those little changes add up to something big.
Instead of seeing how much exercise you can fit into your life see what is the least amount that will produce the highest marginal return, the biggest bang for your limited free time. If you do that, make modest dietary changes, and do an activity you enjoy you will find that a year from now you’ll still be doing it, and your quality of life will have profoundly changed. At Austin Strength Trainers and New Orleans Strength Trainers we can help you achieve that change without endless hours in the gym.