A car pulled up to the valet in front of the restaurant, the car door opened, and a voice called out, “Hey Jack, can you help me?” Jack helped the man get out of the car and situated onto his walker. It turns out the two men had graduated from high school together 55 years earlier. I asked Jack what was wrong with the man. Jack said, “He is just old”.
That reply really struck me then and looms larger in my mind as I get older. At some point in my life, I will be the one being helped. I would like to put that off as long as possible. Diet, lifestyle choices, and exercise, particularly the right strength training exercise, can put off the inevitable so that you can live more years as the helper rather than the one being helped.
Below is a list 35 benefits of exercise from the article Train for Life: Exercise is Medicine in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Most items on the list would tilt the scale toward being the helper.
The list:
Mind
· Improved cognition such as sustained attention, short term memory etc. in older adults AND brain health
· Decreased cognitive decline.
Mood
· Reduced depression
· Reduced anxiety
· Team sports promote involvement in the community to improve overall health and happiness
· Improved self-esteem
Musculoskeletal
· Moderate exercise beneficial for cartilage
· Often weight control
· Often strength, endurance and power,
· Often flexibility and coordination
· Increased bone mineral density
· Reduced pain and discomfort from arthritis. Exercise is important in reducing symptoms of osteoarthritis.
· Reduces pain and discomfort from fibromyalgia
· Reduced back pain
· Enhanced flexibility
· Increased physical function
· Favourable changes in genes associated with aging
· Hip fracture risk decreased by 30-60%
· Benefits of exercise outweigh risk for osteoporosis
Visceral
Heart:
· Decreased risk of cardiovascular disease
· Exercise is better than primary coronary intervention for cardiac event free survival.
· Improved resting blood pressure
· Every 200 step/day increase in physical activity is associated with an 8-10% reduction in CVD risk
· Regular exercise is more effective than heart stents
Colon
· Decreased gastrointestinal transit time
· Improved outcomes from colorectal surgery
· Reduced side effects from chemotherapy
· Lower 1-year mortality rate
Breast cancer
· Regular exercise can reduce breast cancer risk by 20%.
Diabetes reduction
· Improved glucose/insulin metabolism
Overall
· 30% reduction in all causes of mortality and increased life expectancy
· Reduced body fat mass
· Reduced abdominal fat
· Improved blood lipids
· Increased resting metabolic rate
· Improved sleep quality
These 35 items are the impetus for a healthy life. Failure to achieve many of items on this list will necessitate serious compromises in your life. An example is being compelled to avoid physical activity to minimize joint pain. This inactivity brings about more problems, and a downward cycle begins.
We can improve these parameters, but we face obstacles. Maybe you hate exercise, or you don’t know where to start, or your attempts at exercise have not been successful in the past. An exercise program only works if you do it. Start with a feasible approach to exercise, one that you will stick to, and set your course toward being the helper and not the helped.
Request a complimentary first session at Kelly Personal Training
Click here to schedule a session to try it yourself at our Austin Personal Training facility
We operate by appointment. Before you stop by please call us at 512-964-8787
Yes, we are open with Covid-19 safety protocols in place.