Why Exercise is Better Than Drugs
Some health conditions are reversible - thanks to exercise - and you don't need to go over the top to feel the benefits. The people at Duke University have spent a year looking at the effects of physical activity - and the outlook is comforting.
Called the STRRIDE trial, Duke University measured various health markers in people who were inactive over 6 months. Over the next 6 months the participants engaged in regular exercise.
"In the new analysis, we found that waist size, time to exhaustion, visceral fat and metabolic syndrome scores deteriorated significantly during the six-month period of inactivity during the original STRRIDE trial," Robbins said. "However, after six months of exercise training in the study, 13 of the 17 variables had either reverted to original baseline levels or even improved.Three levels of exercise were measured: 12 miles of walking per week, 12 miles of jogging per week or 20 miles of jogging per week. From the results it seems that it was not the group with the most intense exercise that got the most results.
I honestly believe that the power of simple exercise should never be underestimated. While aerobic activity is not a health cure-all - there is overwhelming evidence proving the many benefits.
The challenge we face is not in trying to find the 'perfect' form of exercise, but in finding the reasons why most of us do not exercise at all.
Another lesson from this is that positive health improvements didn't come overnight. Six months to regress in health, followed by six months of improving.
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I think people think they have to do too much too fast and get burn out. Marathoners usually started slowly and increased the amount over time
ReplyGreat news! Simple exercise is what people did before the gym & pills era.
ReplyI agree! I exercise daily, if I can't hit the gym i'l just make sure I walk instead of using my car, this allows me to eat a large quantity of fresh wholesome foods, whilst improving my skin and keeping my figure trim(ish!)128lbs at 5ft 5. Exercise makes you feel great and using weights to tone your body can help to give you the body shape that you want. xx
ReplyMillions of overweight and obese people doing hard working job most days of the week. How we can tell them they need to exercise one hour more to lose weight or to gain health benefit.
Is it not time to tray to understand how physical activity can contribute to better health.
It is known that for some people is enough to be little physically active to gain benefit for health and for weight loss and for many people physical activity (exercise) alone or combined with dieting does not produce health benefit or weight loss.
I think it is time, instead of assuming that overweight and obese people and people with medical condition are not enough physically active, to try understand how physical activity contributing (underlining mechanism) to weight loss and to improvement of health conditions.
ReplyThis is an ecellent post as I have trained people that have all sorts of medicine and pills for their health but when they start exercising they need less and less. I'm not saying we don't need some medicine but I believe our society relies on medicine too much.
ReplyRe: I believe our society relies on medicine too much.
I agree. Many people today want a quick fix rather than a long term solution.
ReplyAs a society we are relying too much on medicine and drugs.
I have a friend who is a retired psychiatrist, and in the old days his persciption for mild depression was to walk for 2 miles.
He would actually send his patients out for a walk and then tell them to come back to the office when they were done.
Now, people just want a pill for depression and every other health problem.
I think the author of the article makes a good point about finding out why people don't exercise.
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