A century ago, no one “worked out.” Yet people then were more physically fit than most Americans today. How did they do it? Simple: They led physically active lives. They walked a great deal. They gardened, chopped wood, pumped water, churned butter, and washed their clothes largely by hand.
Today’s modern conveniences are touted as labor-saving, but those savings carry a high price: less physical activity. According to a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, fewer than one-third of Americans are active enough for good health. Sixty percent don’t exercise regularly, and 25 percent don’t exercise at all.
But despite what those health club ads may lead you to think, you don’t have to spend half your life sweating buckets with a personal trainer to reap major physical and emotional benefits from exercise. All you have to do is imitate your great-grandparents by incorporating more physical activity into your daily routine. You hardly have to break into a sweat.
“We made a mistake years ago when we told everyone that they had to engage in strenuous 20-minute aerobic workouts at least three times a week to obtain health benefits from exercise,” says Steven N. Blair, P.E.D., director of research and director of epidemiology and clinical applications at the Cooper Institute of Aerobics Research in Dallas. “Regular moderate exercise is enough.”
What exactly is “moderate exercise”? Brisk walking, bicycling, swimming(Choosing Your Swimming Pool’s Size and Depth), dancing-even gardening and housework, if you put effort into them. And what’s “regular”? About 30 minutes every day. But that 30 minutes doesn’t have to be all at once, Dr. Blair points out. Short-duration activities that add up to 30 minutes work just as well. So taking two 10-minute walks and mopping the kitchen floor are about enough.
The nation’s health and fitness experts officially embraced the nonstrenuous approach to exercise in 1995. That’s when the CDC and the American College of Sports Medicine issued a joint report stating, “If sedentary Americans would adopt a more active lifestyle, there would be enormous benefits to public health and individual wellbeing. An active lifestyle does not require a regimented, vigorous exercise program. Instead, small lifestyle changes that increase daily activity reduce risk of chronic disease and enhance quality of life.”
The following ‘year, the nation’s highestranking health official joined the chorus. The first Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity and Health urged all Americans to do something-anything-physical for 30 minutes a day.
According to Harold Elrick, M.D., director of the Foundation for Optimal Health and Longevity in Bonita, California, America’s seven leading killers are heart disease, cancer, stroke, high blood pressure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis. These conditions are responsible for 70 percent of the deaths that occur in the United States every year. And we can help prevent or treat every one of them with regular moderate exercise.
Regular moderate exercise supports good health. It helps you lose weight faster, sleep better, and think more clearly. It boosts your immune system, eases osteoarthritis and back pain, minimizes menopausal discomforts, and combats depression and anxiety. In fact, if you look at all of the research to date, you’d be hard-pressed to think of even one aspect of your health that exercise doesn’t benefit.
