Health Education: exercise and health

MOVE more LIVE longer

After writing a recent post regarding calorie intake and limits, I made a note to myself to come back and remind people about the benefits of exercise.  Sometimes when I am talking about weight control I give the impression that I do not appreciate exercise.  That could not be further from the truth.  Not only do I appreciate it, I engage in it on a daily basis.  Daily - meaning each and every day (with rare exceptions).     I have dedicated many posts to this subject.  You can use the search feature on the right side of the blog on the blogsite to find them.     The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans can be read in full at the CDC website <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/adults.html" target="_blank">here</a>.  The guidelines give the type of exercise, the duration and the frequency that is necessary for optimal health. The countless benefits of physical activity are also noted in the document.    It is important to engage in activities that increase your heart rate such as walking, cycling, swimming, running, and playing sports on a regular basis.  One should strive for daily exercise but vary the amount of time spent and the type of activity.  For example, exercise seven days a week, but on some days ride a bike, others swim, golf or walk etc.  Some days you might exercise for an hour and others for only 30 minutes.  The weekly goals are provided on the CDC website.  The second recommendation is strength training - activities that build, condition or strengthen your muscles (e.g.,  weight lifting, resistance training and power yoga).  Balance and core work is also important.  Simply practicing standing on one foot for 30 seconds a few times a week will work.  If that's so easy you could do it all day, try it with your eyes closed or raise your leg higher.     Research has shown that exercise - being physically active - is associated with improved health, both physical and mental, and a decrease in disease, cancer, the effects of aging, and all cause mortality.  Physical activity also improves mood, agility and assists in weight control.      I especially like <a href="http://yourhealtheducator.blogspot.com/2011/07/physical-activity-met-comparisons.html" target="_blank">this post</a> that shows the different levels of expenditure based on exercise types.  And <a href="http://yourhealtheducator.blogspot.com/2010/07/anti-exercise-voice.html" target="_blank">this one</a> that talks about motivation to exercise.      Lastly a little clarification about different terms you might hear.  Even though we often use physical activity and exercise to mean the same thing, they are actually different.    Physical activity is any kind of moving about with your whole body - big movements that you do throughout the day count. Exercise is always physical activity but physical activity is not always exercise!  For example, you are being physically active doing your chores, reaching, bending, carrying - but that is not exercise.  It is still GOOD - better than being still.  Much better.    Exercise is planned action you take to increase your heart rate for a predetermined amount of time.  If you decide to go for a 30 minute walk or jog, you have decided to exercise.    Sedentary behavior is the opposite of exercise and physical activity.  It is what you want to avoid because it is associated with metabolic (under the skin) changes that can make you more likely to get a disease (e.g., diabetes, hypertension).  Sitting around is sedentary behavior - as is lying about - try not to sit for more than an hour without doing some moving around ( aka physical activity!).

MOVE more LIVE longer

After writing a recent post regarding cal orie in take and limits, I made a note to m yself to come back and remind people about the ben...

6:59 PM

Does Exercise Make You SicK?

If yes? When?  What is the strength of the evidence?  What mechanisms are involved (how does it make you sick)?  What are the key points and what does it mean for me?  Those are a few questions that came to my mind when I saw an article regarding immune functioning in elite athletes.  The article, in ACSM's Certified News 2011(21:4) and written by Eric Christensen, provided the answers for some of those questions.  I will share this with you now. There is strong evidence to support the benefits of daily exercise.  There is evidence that exercise improves the immune system.  One way that it does this is by reducing blood levels of cortisol.  Cortisol is a stress hormone and it suppresses the body's immune system.  As I learned in the article, the immune system has two parts - the innate and the adaptive.  The innate responds to new germs or foreign bodies, while the adaptive system has learned to recognize repeat threats and can attack them in fewer steps, so to speak. This article and my post, refer to exercise and the innate immune system. That being said, I just had a thought - I am supposed to be keeping these posts simple.  Therefore, you have to trust that I did due diligence in my preparation while I try to cut to the chase. The measure of sickness in the studies that were reviewed for the article is URIs - or upper respiratory tract infections (colds, sinus congestion, coughing, low fevers).   Elite athletes do have higher rates* of URI than non athletes, but and this is a big but, they are also in situations where germs are more likely to be in the air (locker rooms, buses, etc). Researchers found that the immune system which is usually improved from exercise, becomes depressed after high intensity and duration of exercise (but not necessarily the frequency of exercise).  [the chemical markers that change in the athletes are ones associated with fighting disease, like neutrophils, lymphocytes, etc.  The athlete has LESS of them in their blood stream immediately after the prolonged bout of exercise] The criteria seems to include 1) 90 minutes of continuous exercise that is 2) moderate to high in intensity (competitive cycling, swimming, running) and that 3) occurs without fueling or eating.  In a study of runners, it was found that those with faster paces, i.e sub 8 min miles, who ran 45 or more miles a week, were more at risk.  (I can assure you that I do not come close to either of those markers) Caveats: The studies that were used to assess this issue did not have verification* of URIs.  It is said that some of the symptoms are similar to those experienced from over training.  Thus a person in a study could report having an URI and the scientist 1) takes that as true and 2) equates it with level of activity, but the person may not have had an URI.  The above was two caveats rolled into one.  The athlete may not be sick and athletes may not have as high a rate of URIs as has been reported because we do not know for sure that they had an URI. Either way - for most of us - the problem is getting sick from too little working out not too much.  Also - the diseases associated with lack of physical activity can be much more serious than a head cold.

Does Exercise Make You SicK?

If yes? When? What is the strength of the evidence? What mechanisms are involved (how does it make you sick)? What are the key points and...

7:39 PM

vigorous physical activity

Hello, the travel today was not fun and I am cranky... drove over to the market and bought myself a healthy salad and vegetarian lunch meat... was good. NOW I think I can focus a bit. I was mentioning to my brother n law the other day the importance of including not just physical activity, but vigorous physical activity, into his routine. It is the higher intensity that improves our overall fitness but also more stronger effects our cholesterol levels, in fact, exercise intensity directly impacts HDL levels. It is recommended that adults participate in 20 minutes of vigorous physical activity several days a week. [or moderate intensity two and a half hours a week.] So just what IS vigorous? It gets a little complicated if you consider it in METs or metabolic equivalents.. but being still is equal to one and vigorous activity is six or more. If you think of perceived exertion is it about a seven on a scale of ten.. for the 20 minutes. Now what is moderate for a 20 year old may be vigorous for a 70 year old, so some subjectivity is involved. Here are just a few examples that the CDC and the ACSM consider high intensity or vigorous. walking very fast... five miles per hour.. (it usually takes me 17 minutes to walk a mile which is low to moderate activity!) running - no MPH given but 12 or less minutes per mile is usually considered "running" bicycling at least ten miles per hour... (I can do 12 in around 63 minutes on my no gear bike! and believe me, cyclists fly by me on the road so that I am almost embarrassed. I actually want to yell out, "I am just an injured runner, not a cyclist!") mountain climbing and hiking roller blading aerobics, step, dance, floor - high intensity jumping jacks jumping rope and YES TOM... rowing machine (at vigorous effort) boxingballroom dancingcompetitive sports (tennis, soccer, football, basketball, etc)steady paced lap swimmingcanoeing etc, at more than 4 mphwell, that ought to get you started... Tomorrow I will be in conference so I should learn something new to share!

vigorous physical activity

Hello, the travel today was not fun and I am cranky... drove over to the market and bought myself a healthy salad and vegetarian lunch meat....

5:35 PM

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MOVE more LIVE longer

Does Exercise Make You SicK?

vigorous physical activity

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